Rise of a Dragon
by Yronhand
Summary: In the struggles that spread across the Republic of the Sphere, the destiny of one man is forged through the fires of war. Rated for some violence. Season One - COMPLETE
1. Birth of a Dragon

Birth of a Dragon 

_Cut, flow with the grace of the water._

_Cut, dance with the grace of the wind._

A sparkle of light flashed off Jun's katana as he moved around, performing an intricate dance with his blade. He moved as smoothly as his thoughts dictated, the youth of merely seventeen summers, with an ageless grace that seemed beyond the young man. It filled Han-Xin with pride as he watched his son. In a few moments the youth finished, sheathing his blade smoothly in its saya. He stood there for a moment, silent as he gathered his thoughts, before turning to face his father with a smile.

"Ohayo, tousan." 

"Ohayo, Jun-kun."

The youth turned to fully face his father and nodded. "What brings you out this early father? I had thought you'd been working late last night?" He turned away from the older man as he went to place the katana, which had once been his father's as well, and his grandfather's also before him, on its place on the antler rack that held it when not in use.

"Yes, I was working rather late last night. However, there isn't really that much to do." The older man looked fondly upon his son, who was busy returning the weapon to its proper place. "I have too many efficient assistants for me already, as you should know." The man chuckled softly as he said that.

"True, true." Jun stepped back from the rack, resting on an altar-like stand on its own in the room, built like a dojo, which it in fact served as from time to time. He looked at his father then with a grin. "Let's have breakfast, I'm starving."

His father chuckled to himself as he followed his son out of the room, and on the way to their dining hall. They were a relatively affluent family, Han-Xin's. After all, he was the owner of Dynasty Weapons Unlimited, though was being handled now by his younger siblings as of late. He slid the shoji shut, and turned to gaze out over the grounds of his estate. It was at that moment that a distinctly familiar sound caught his ears. His gazed quickly shifted to see a trail of flame streak across the sky before disappearing behind the city line not too far away. While it seemed like a falling star, Han-Xin's ears could not shake the almost disturbing feeling of apprehension that gripped him.

"Tousan!"

He shook his head at himself. _Ah, Han-Xin. Its just your imagination._ He flashed a smile at his son. "Hai, hai…I'm coming."  With his good feeling restored, the man began walking along the corridor once more.

"Really father, what kept you?" Jun teased his old man once more, and the pair light heartedly made their way down the hall. "Remember your promise, you said you'd let me work at the yard today with the transport 'mechs."

"Hai, hai. I remember, don't worry about that."

Not too far away, the gardener of the Koshimitsu estate quietly knelt on the ground, studiously examining the flowers that grew there. Above the man and across the lawn, Jun and his father disappeared into another room. The gardener merely gave them a passing look as they did, and returned to the plants. A soft beeping sound suddenly came from his collar, which he covered with one hand nonchalantly, the expression on his face all as if he was completely focused on the foliage he was tending. From the lapel that beeped, a tiny voice emanated from it.

"Zentoshi."

The voice that came out was familiar to the old gardener. He drew closer to the plants, tilting his head from side to side as he viewed them. "Hai?" He murmured softly.

"The Dragon has landed. Make the offer, now. You know what to do."

"Aa…" He opened his eyes as he spotted a line of ants. Another sound came from the lapel this time, instead of a voice or beep he heard a faint click. He knew that at that moment that the miniscule communication device implanted there was now gone, self-destructing with barely a spot on his uniform's collar. Zentoshi the gardener sighed, as he stood up and gathered his tools to return them to the shed.

He went over to his small cottage to the side, and closed the door behind him. His hands swiftly searched out the small pistol that he kept hidden in a panel within his bed. He checked it, and found it fully loaded as always. Five bullets for the tiny gun, and he attached the silencer to it. The size of the weapon made it easy to hide, and Zentoshi appreciated that, even if it would take more than one shot to kill. He tucked it in his shirt, and peacefully made his way across the garden. He entered the kitchen from the garden, for it was located on the ground floor. He spotted the chef, a somewhat portly man by the name of Gotsu.

"Oi, Zentoshi." The man greeted his with a wave of his hand.

"I'm looking for Sir Han-Xin, would you know where he is?" Zentoshi smiled placidly at the chef. The other man looked up and shrugged with a smile.

"Ah, in his office I see. Ja." He made his way upstairs, and in a few moments reached Han-Xin's study. He slid the shoji open, to see the man alone at his desk. His son was nowhere to be seen, Zentoshi smiled inwardly. Han-Xin then took a look up, to see the gardener of the entrance.

"Ah, Zentoshi! Come in, come in. Is there anything wrong with my garden? How are the new family of bonsai coming?" Han-Xin gestured for the gardener to enter, motioning for the man to sit at a chair.

The other man shook his head, the smile on his lips twisting somewhat. "Iie. I'll stand. I have to say, Han-Xin, I will miss working here."

The moment Zentoshi spoke his name informally, alarm bells began ringing in Han-Xin's head, and his hand gradually moved under his desk to reach for the gun that lay strapped there.

Zentoshi noticed the miniscule movement of his employer's shoulder, and quickly drew out his silenced gun to shoot the other man's arm. The soft thump of the bullet was almost inaudible, but Han-Xin's gasp of pain and fall to the floor was not. The businessman looked up at Zentoshi with some confusion. "Z-zentoshi. Why?"

"I'm not here to kill you, Han-Xin, but I couldn't risk you shooting me, understand?" Zentoshi looked down at the man with a smile on his lips. "I have an offer from the Duchess. Return with us. Come back to the Five Pillars, Shiro no Ryu. If you do, we will spare your family from the fires of the Dragon."

Han-Xin grit his teeth in pain, but raised his head up in defiance. "Tell Tomark, she will never have me by her side again."

Zentoshi shrugged dismissively. "Ah, well. Your military intellect and espionage skills will be missed greatly, Shiro no Ryu. But, I have my orders. Why you ever were allowed to live up to now is a mystery to me though." Zentoshi raised his gun up to point at the man's heart. "Sleep well." He fired a shot into the man, who jerked in pain at the shot.

"Tousan!" Zentoshi turned abruptly to find Jun standing behind him, holding in his hands his family's katana, mouth agape. Jun saw the shot that Zentoshi fired into his father, and the blood that began to seep through his father's shirt, both from the chest and on the shoulder.

"Pest." Zentoshi quickly pointed the gun at Jun, who reacted the only way that he could as he was. He drew the sword and ran towards the "gardener". 

He aimed the gun at Jun's face, his finger slowly pulling back on the trigger as the youth began to swing at the man. Surprise shot through his spine as he felt himself kicked hard, causing his shot to miss and merely graze the youth's face. He looked down to see Han-Xin's foot rebounding away from his shin, and knew that somehow the man still lived. He barely managed to look up again to deal with his current problem before seeing the Koshimitsu katana come down to strike his neck. It was an elegant strike, the power behind the blow and the particularly refined edge of the sword cleanly cutting the man diagonally from his neck and cleaving through his ribs and spine to cut him in half, the blood from his suddenly cleaved open organs spilling and gushing forth from the halved man's corpse.

Jun heaved with exertion, the sight of seeing a man dead in front of him causing him to drop the katana and heave the contents of his stomach out. He shook his head, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. The blood from Zentoshi pooled, staining the floor a deep crimson red. "Jun…"

The youth's face snapped to look over at his father. Shoving his disgust behind him, he crawled over to his father as fast as he could, to cradle the dying man in his arms. "Tousan…why did he?"

Han-Xin shook his head weakly. "No time, Jun. Tell Gotsu, it was Tomark. He will know what to do."

Jun shook his head in confusion, the chaos in his mind indescribable. "Gotsu? What? No!" He shook his father, who had coughed out blood. "Tousan, don't leave me. Please…don't." He murmured, his tears falling as he sobbed, still holding his father tight to him.

"Tch…it is too late Jun. Promise me though, I want a grandson."

 "Damn it, you are not leaving me Father!" He shook his head, incredulous that his father could say such a thing now, when his life was hanging by a thread. He turned to look out through the shoji and screamed. "Gotsu! Anyone! Help!"

"Jun…make me proud. I'll always be watching you." Han-Xin smiled up at his son, confident in the fact that his son would do exactly as he asked, knowing that a great destiny lay before the young man. With those last words, the sparkle in his eyes faded, the smile on his lips remaining. Jun could hear the thump of running footsteps coming outside, but he didn't care anymore. The walls fell, as Gotsu and three other men, armed with handguns burst in.

"No…Han-Xin." Gotsu looked with horror as he saw his employer's son cradle the old man's dead body against him. He took in the bloody scene with detachment otherwise, save for his friend's grieving son. He stepped over the rapidly cooling corpse of Zentoshi to kneel on the bloodstained floor beside Jun, softly prying the youth's hands from his father's body. 

The youth let him, as he sat on the floor drained of his energy, his conscience torturing him with the blood that stained his hands. A shadow eclipsed him, blocking the sun that shone into the study. Jun weakly looked up to see Gotsu look on him sadly. The chef asked him softly. "Did your father leave a message for me?" Jun nodded, putting his hand on the floor, wincing when he saw the blood gush around them as he pushed himself up stand. He felt the hefty chef help him up, and winced, this time from the gunshot wound. Gotsu noticed this, and put a finger to it.

"Not too serious. It missed you by just a faction." He looked back at Jun's face. "What did he say? Tomark?" Jun nodded, his head pounding. Gotsu cursed. "Damned snake." He turned to look at one of the security personnel. "Take him, he's wounded." Jun heard only that as he passed out.

Gotsu watched as more security came up, the two other with him already standing at the ready. The former agent looked up at the two men. "Take Han-Xin, and get ready to leave. The Dragon hunts us." The security guards nodded somberly, and moved to retrieve the old man from the floor.

 For a while he was alone in the bloodstained room, then he knelt down to take something from the floor. He stood up again, holding the Koshimitsu katana in his hands. He shook his head sorrowfully. "I had never thought to see blood on this blade again." He ripped off a piece of his uniform and wiped the weapon clean, then picked up the saya and sheathed the weapon. He stepped out the room to meet a tall man, who was captain of Han-Xin's security. 

"Tomark?" The large man asked, rather weakly. Gotsu nodded. The other knew what to do now, and he turned to bark orders to the men that had followed him.

A lone dropship with the Dynasty insignia departed the planet and left on a Jumpship a few hours later. That afternoon, the Aerospace base at Neo Carthagia was attacked.


	2. Pearls in the Deep

**Pearls in the Deep**

            It was quite a beautiful world really, the dust brown sphere that was called Addicks. It was barely some days ago that Koshimitsu Jun was enjoying its warm climate and the slightly more than standard gravity.

But, some days ago, that all ended as well.

In his seat, the first and only son of Koshimitsu Han-Xin gazed upon that very same dust-colored world he had enjoyed for a short time. How long was it that he and his father had spent there, two weeks? Three? He did not remember now. All he felt was the lingering traces of sadness and anger that stirred his heart. Jun never was one for keeping emotions storming in his inner heart. He let them lie as focused gems of power, from which he drew strength. Now that a gem of vengeance had been made, it would be put to use very soon, and very directly indeed.

He spun around in his chair partway, then stood up. As he rose, he met the gaze of the one he knew as Gotsu. The older, somewhat portly, man looked upon Jun with grief at his own failure, and opened his mouth to apologize once more. Jun shook his head once, quickly and violently, accompanying it with an abrupt gesture with his hand. "Stop it, Gotsu. I've told you already, what has passed, has passed. There is nothing now, but to look to the future."

The former chef's mouth worked up and down, then closed shut. The man had a downcast expression. Jun noted this and decided to put an end to the nonsense that had taken over many of his father's personal servants and his guards. "Gotsu, tell me first. Gotsu is not your true name is it?"

The other quickly looked up, and shook his head. "No, young master. It is not." He paused for a short while, as if debating what to say. "My true name, is Koyakawa Kaiden." Jun looked on the man, frowning. 

_Koyakawa Kaiden? That name is so familiar._

"I served under your grandfather, a long time ago. In the Blakist War, as his second hand." Gotsu, or Kaiden, spoke softly seeing the questioning gaze Jun had lowered upon him.

"You were the one called, the Tsunami? The mechwarrior?" Jun said, almost incredulously, but in the past week he had expected something of the like. Still, it was hard to believe that the old man, already in his middle seventies, was once a skilled and talented mechwarrior. "And you came into my father's service, how?"

Kaiden allowed himself a faint, sad, smile. "Ah, it is a story that would take more time to tell then I believe you would or could want to spare, young master. At least, at this moment." Jun nodded. The man he knew for so long as Gotsu the master chef, was actually Koyakawa Kaiden, a veteran of the last war. From what he could remember of his grandfather's tales by his lakeside home, of the most memorable was a tale that said that Kaiden and his lance had once held an chokepoint alone for over ten minutes against nearly a company of Blakists, using the terrain and his superior skills very well until reinforcements had arrived in the form of his grandfather and his company.

_Too much has happened, these past few days._ Jun shook his head and turned back to the viewglass, where hundreds of kilometers away, no, some thousands, the forces of Tomark's Dragon's Fury clashed with the troops of the loyalist Highlanders. _Nebulous, these things that have befallen me._

He turned around once more to face Kaiden. "Kaiden, then. I will call you that."

"I had not thought I would be called that name once more." The old man sighed wearily, but in a moment straightened with remembered pride. "If you wish so, young master. It does feel good to be called by my real name once again."

Jun nodded. "Good." He gestured out at the viewglass, which showed the planet Addicks. "On that planet, Tomark's minions fight. To control the oil fields." Kaiden nodded, not quite sure at what his young master what getting at, but also somewhat guessing what it would be. "She will not take it. I know not what my father would have wished me to do, but I know for one that he would not want her to succeed. Otherwise, he would have helped them, and Addicks would have now fallen much faster."

Kaiden nodded carefully, agreeing with Jun's words, his guess right. "Yes, indeed. But—"

"But what?" Jun frowned, shaking his head. "Kaiden. The resources at our command are quite—" Jun paused as he searched for the right word, then finding it, spoke, "—potent, are they not? The networks my fathers have lying dormant, that I have no doubt you know of, should be just as potent if not more so as those I do know of." He straightened his back, looking at the older man with a steely gaze. "With these, we shall strangle Tomark's ambitions, and bog down this self-proclaimed Dragoness." He emphasized the last part of his statement by clenching his fist firmly.

Kaiden slowly smiled at those words. "I see. Well then, I have some thoughts in mind, which are the practical things to do. I will get in touch with your father's old links and contacts. Perhaps Tomark had made a incredible mistake this time."

"No." Jun spoke out abruptly. "She _did_ make a mistake. My father's blood flows through my veins, and I shall be the katana that cleaves the throat of the Duchess. For now, I shall need a suitable ride. I suspect you know of what I mean, Kaiden?"

"Aa, that I do, young master. I shall see to this immediately." Kaiden bowed, backing away from Jun, who had turned once more to face the world of Addicks outside, as he stood hidden upon one of the moons of the now war-torn planet. The fell mood vanishing in most part from him, the aura that surrounded him fading, but still there just lying beneath the surface.

Outside, as Kaiden strode off in the corridor, a peculiar smile graced his lips. "Well done, Son of Han-Xin. I'm glad I did not have to spur you to action." He slowed for a moment as he entered the small 'mech bay of the hidden base. "The blood of the Koshimitsu flows truly in your veins, young Jun. And noble it truly is." The prideful expression faded slightly, then he smiled once more. "I wonder if the Dragoness will appreciate the irony, that _he_ serves to be the beginning of her downfall." The old man continued onwards, passing by the few massive titans that stood silent as he traversed the cold, steel floor.

A few calls to various people around the prefecture got things started for Jun and is birth of a resistance against Tomark, though as of yet he had no specific means of which to exact his anger. Kaiden and Han-Xin's former head of security, Kaokatsu, began working immediately after the older man had approached Kaokatsu with the results of his most recent meeting with Jun. The efficient networks or contacts and allies that Han-Xin and his father before him had made long ago, lying dormant indeed as Jun used the word, was now slowly awakening. Across the various planets, the many former comrades of Jun's father heard the news, and responded favorably in how they would deal in their own ways to aid Junzo and hinder Katana Tormark's ambitions.

It was around this time too, that Jun and Kaiden returned to Addicks. Managing to drop on planet with a group of elite soldiers and some support crew, they returned to the ruins of the Koshimitsu estate. There was no one here now, the once grand estate of verdant green and one of the city's marvels in architecture was burned and destroyed in one of the recent assaults. Jun looked on the devastated grounds sadly, his footsteps on the soil muffled and somewhat overshadowed by the distant sounds of fighting and gunfire. He nodded to his men, and they spread out to search to blackened grounds where the manor had once stood. Jun walked to the center of the ruin, and began searching for what Kaiden had described to him.

"Junzo-sama, I've found it!" One of his guards waved, gesturing the rest over. He jogged towards the man, and saw it. It was a small panel, hidden beneath some wreckage. Jun noted that it was where the kitchen's storeroom once was, beside Kaiden's own quarters. He knelt and took a small card out of his pocket, and looked back down.

He brushed off the dirt from the panel and slid the card into the slot. A moment later, the panel opened up to reveal a tiny aural sensor and scanner screen. He put his hand on the screen, which hummed as a flash of light scanned the lines of his hand. At the same time, he spoke the words Kaiden had told him too. "Shiro no Ryu." The panel beeped twice, and shone green, then sank into the ground. He stood up and took a few steps back as some of the wreckage nearby began to shudder. A small entryway revealed itself in the ground, showing him a set of stairs leading into the darkness.

The leader of the guards nodded to his comrades and waved them down. Two took up positions beside Jun, while a vanguard of two pairs descended with their compact assault rifles at the ready in firing position. A second pair went down partway to secure the stairs. A few seconds later, they heard the all-clear signal, and a set of light powered up, dispelling the darkness from the underground chambers. Jun walked down the stairs, and descended into a small room, with an elevator. He placed his palm on it again, which caused the doors to open. He walked inside with four guards, as it wasn't quite a large elevator.

It descended quickly, Jun could feel the gravity leaving slightly, then increasing as they slowed down. The doors opened into another darkened chamber, this time much larger than the one upstairs. One of the guards switched on the lights, and with an audible sound, they turned on to blaze down and sweep the darkness from what Jun now recognized as a 'mech bay. His eyes widened in surprise at the familiar forms of the great war-machines. Behind him, one of the guards mumbled, "Kami-sama…incredible!"

Incredible, that was very accurate Jun said silently to himself. In this day and age, especially in this part of the galaxy, battlemechs were a rarity. To find four such awesome weapons of war here, beneath his home was mind-boggling. "Get the others down here." He spoke softly, one of the guards complying and heading back up to the surface. He ran his hand on the nearest such 'mech, a customized Centurion. The chassis was basically an old design despite its cosmetic modifications, and from its looks it seemed that Han-Xin had not spared any of his wealth on keeping the 'mech updated. Jun recognized the external appearances of old Inner Sphere weapons, and the ones that had come to be developed during and after the Clans had invaded. _This is undoubtedly one of the more modern systems,_ he commented.

He moved on, sparing a look at the 'mech on the other side, a 'mech of principally Clan design, the Shadow Cat. _How did father get this one? A Clanner battlemech at that._ He knew that Kaukatsu and Kaiden probably knew, something he would ask the pair later on. He moved on from the first pair, to the other two that was housed in the chamber. One was an incompletely repaired, or heavily modified Junzo amended as he saw the pristine condition of the 'mech, Hatchetman. His father was probably working on this the night before he died, Junzo realized, seeing the nearby consoles still alight in stand-by mode. A hard feeling surfaced within him, and he shoved it back down. It was not the place to remember the past and break down. He went over and tapped the nearest screen, which came alive quickly. He gave it a cursory look, noting that his father had been planning to replace the hatchet with something else. A katana, it seemed, from the looks of it, or a sword of similar dimensions. He shook his head, still keeping his feelings in control, but barely, as he placed the console in stand-by once again and continued his inspection of the hangar. The last 'mech was another medium 'mech, like all the rest in the hangar, a Shadow Hawk, and also like all the rest cosmetically modified.

All in all, a pretty formidable force, especially nowadays in the Republic, where most 'mechs were merely of the IndustrialMech types, and the few battlemechs there were in the hands of the military or militias. A far cry, he noted, from a mere century or so ago, where every planet of decent prosperity had much more then just a few single 'mechs of such ability. The relative silence was interrupted with the arrival of the elevator once again, and another complement of guards, this time with a few technicians and Kaiden himself. 

"How did you hide all this, Kaiden?" Junzo asked the man, who was walking slowly over to him, an expression of peculiar peace on his face. Oddly, he had little difficulty performing the transition of names.

"We have ways, young Jun." The old mechwarrior replied, a faint smile on his face. He quickly bulldozed over any further comments or inquiries along that line by raising up a hand at the four 'mechs. "Magnificent things, aren't they? Your father collected them and worked on them over the past years, especially when he let your uncle take over as head of KWU and gave up majority control over its sister corporations, Dynasty Technologies and Liu-Han Retail. The portly man sighed wistfully. "He put much of the profits from those into these." Junzo listened silently, letting the man explain indirectly how his father had managed to acquire the 'mechs. He was too young then to wonder where all the money had gone when his father did that, some years back. After all, he _was_ a child back then.

_And indeed, perhaps even now I am still, in some ways._ He contemplated that thought for a while, before the growing sounds behind him broke him from his brief reverie. He turned to see the techs and soldiers preparing to retrieve the 'mechs, and transport them out. He wondered how, when he noticed that there were two large bay doors ahead, one of them leading away from the city, he surmised. A hand came on his shoulder then, Kaiden's, and the old man squeezed his shoulder.

"Come. There is something your father would have wanted to show you." The man's voice was tinged with a bit of grief still, but he was coping with it quite well. Junzo followed the man silently towards the second bay door, where he saw a complicated control panel. Kaiden placed his hand on it, and entered a series of key codes. After a moment, it chimed softly, and the doors began sliding open. A low and deep hum filled the hangar as it opened to a darkness, with a shadowy form that Junzo knew was a battlemech within. Kaiden turned up the lights, and the form that greeted Junzo's sight was breathtaking. A modified No-Dachi lay before him, apparent from the numerous cosmetic alterations that served to make the 'mech look more fearsome and yet more pleasing as well aesthetically. Junzo looked at the heavy 'mech, admiring the flows and edges, lines and curves. The 'mech was more streamlined, though it was a touch larger then what he expected. Kaiden interrupted his observations, and spoke. "This 'mech is your father's masterpiece, young Junzo. He always wanted to make his own 'mech design, even if it was based on an older one. With my aid, and that of another close friend, we finished this last year. You father named it a No-Dachi Mark II, the "Silver Dragon". It truly is a different 'mech though, and one of a kind as of now, though your father did leave some plans behind." Kaiden turned to look at Jun, who was looking up at the 'mech silently. He walked over to it, and like he did with the first 'mech, he ran his hands over the foot of the 'mech. "Your father always wanted you to have it, Jun-kun, it was going to be his present for you someday, he told me." Junzo nodded slowly, continuing to caress the ferric hide of the gargantuan war-machine.

_Perfect._

"Let's get to work, old man." Junzo smiled, a feral grin on his face. 

**Reviewer Responses:**

**The Nice Guy**

Thanks for reviewing man, I know that you're among the most respected BattleTech/Mechwarrior Fanfiction writers and online gurus around. Having you favorably speak of my work is a great boon, and here's to hoping I'll be able to keep that edge. And excellent work on your own story, keep it up.

**Tremor3258**

Thanks to you as well, as I can see you write a lot, and I tend to respect writers with work more then not…then again, most of you are, but I'll not keep going and get my foot stuck in my mouth or something like that. 

Just a comment though, I'm writing in the setting of Mechwarrior:Dark Age. Which, admittedly I will be changing (of course) but I will try to retain the general flow of the storyline that WizKids is putting out. I'm getting my hands on the recent novels soon, so most of my info. is kind of based on the FedCom-Civil War timeline books and what I can scrounge out from the Net and my games, which fortunately includes Mechwarrior 2 (the most accurate one in comparison to the Btech system). In any case, I'll end my pointless rambling now. Read, Review!


	3. Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith 

"Slowly, slowly now!" The cries of techs and other support crew filled the hangar. The progress with restoring the military-grade equipment that had been seeded across Addicks and nearby systems that had been brought here to Damocles, Addick's largest and farthest moon was proceeding fast. Perhaps it had something to do with the moon's lighter gravity, rated at approximately zero point five seven, slightly over half standard gravity, which made loadwork much more easier to deal with. Or maybe it was due to the sheer efficiency of the techs, coming from who knew where. Only Kaukatsu and Kaiden, the two Ks, as Jun had come to call them, knew from where they were coming from, he did not recall this number of techs and laborers in his father's service on Addicks.

He wondered why so much resources were available so readily, especially at this time, with the HPG networks down, the only way to get orders or messages around were via the semi-regular journeys of merchant craft and jumpships. He'd need to ask Kaiden, the more senior of the two, about that. Before he turned away from the rail overlooking the cargo bay, which also served as the aerospace fighter hangar, he looked over their small aerospace contingent.

The small aerospace wing was composed of four craft, two DFC-0 Defiance medium fighters, once again complemented with Clan-level battle technology, and two light craft, CRX-0 Corax fighters. Jun noted the minor oddity, that both craft had the '-0' designation. He rubbed his hand on the rail a bit, then turned to leave, the hustle and noise of the work bays fading as he walked down the hallway.

The moon base wasn't very large by far, if you calculated the actual area of the chambers and rooms, but it had extensive corridors. The young Koshimitsu, coming out of his grief-state was once more returning to his old self, in part, had observed a great number of peculiarities about the base, one of which was the great lengths of the hallways, and the prodigiously large numbers of small cubicles and turns in the network of halls. There had to be a use for all of it, and he filed that away again as something else to ask Kaiden.

Here though, away from most of the people in the base, silence reigned and it was something Jun was grateful for. Perhaps that was one of the reasons his father made these halls as such, he surmised. He sat down on a nearby bench in one of the cubicles in the corridor; there was one at every turn and at every central portion of a hallway. He let himself relax a bit, and let his mind wander. For the moments of peace, few as they were, he appreciated them greatly. He knew that once he personally began his work against Tomark, he would have far less of them.

After a while he opened his eyes, his mind clear and focused once again. He stood slowly, letting himself take in the image of the empty hallway once again. It all seemed a bit, sluggish, he thought. As of late he seemed to be feeling that peculiar sensation. Perhaps it was an aftereffect of stress, or grief, but he'd thought he dealt with that already. Or maybe he'd only just fooled himself into believing so, after all, it _had_ only been a week and a few days since then, far too short for most people to overcome grief of a close family member, especially since he had no siblings, and no parents. But by nature he was a child of both steel and heart, as his father had once called him.

"Enough of this, I've wasted enough time reflecting." He raised his hands to slap the sides of his face lightly, breaking free from the "zero-state" as he called it. No one knew about his lapses, which was good. He smiled grimly, it would be decidedly a bad thing if Koshimitsu's son was actually a psychotic. His steps began again, and he walked down towards the training area, where a small 'mech simulation room, a physical-combat training room with a gravity system, and the 'mech bays were. As he passed through the 'mech bay, he noticed that unlike the other work bays, this one was virtually empty. Only a pair of techs were there, checking up on the Centurion and Shadow Hawk. 

He hadn't seen any tech approach the demi-Hatchetman, Shadow Cat, or the No-Dachi II ever since he'd arrived with them about two days ago. He shrugged it off, and continued over the walkway towards the inner areas of the base, where the residential quarters and the training area was. The sounds of combat reached his ears as he drew close to the dojo gravity-room, which simulated an additional point two five gravity, which gave the combatants nearly standard gravity. Kaukatsu stood on the side, arms folded, nodding when one of the two fighters in the center of the mat made a good move, or a slight shake when a mistake occurred.

He opened the door, and felt the additional gravity pull down on him. Upon arriving the other day, he'd ordered that all personnel undergo gravity training in the dojo at least once a day, an hour a day, to maintain their physical strength. The lack of gravity often deteriorated one's physical abilities, never a good thing. He didn't know why he had ordered that, but Kaiden had immediately implemented it into the daily regimen of the growing moon base crew. 

"Stop, that's enough. Jomer, Richel, rest for five and return to standard drills." Kaukatsu's voice ordered, halting the sparring match. The two soldiers immediately halted, bowed slightly then turned to get their brief respite. Around them, a few others, most of these others members of the security force, continued practicing the drills Kaukatsu had spoken of, various general exercises and basic combat drills.

"Sumimasen, Kaukatsu-san." Jun greeted the security-chief with a tight smile. Quick recovery or not, he could not smile easily as before.

Kaukatsu nodded in his own way of greetings. "Jun-kun, I'm glad you could join us. The security force is just midway in their training session, aren't we?" He directed the last part to his team, who replied with a half-shout and half-groan.

"You push them hard, I see, Kaukatsu-san", Jun pursed his lips, another half-smile on his face. It was easier to deal with things when people were positive around you.

"Indeed I do, after all, since this place has less then standard gravity, they should be able to do more work, shouldn't they? I've only added an extra twenty percent worth of workload, when I should add at least thirty!" Again, he emphasized the latter part, eliciting another cry from his troop, though this time it was more independent. As the groans faded and they returned their attention fully to their work, the security chief looked back at Jun.

"Well, have you come for your one hour worth of training?" Kaukatsu grinned at the youth.

The youth shook his head. "No, not right now. Actually, I came to look for Kaiden, would you know where he is?"

"Ah, Kaiden…I do believe he is in the 'mech simulator room. He is always there, ever since we came here to Damocles base, if he isn't busy with something. I think he considers it his relaxation time, just like I consider performing my katas and shooting training my own way of unwinding." Kaukatsu murmured, enough for Jun to hear, alternatively looking at the young man and at his force as they trained. He paused and gave Jun a full look as he said, "I hear that in one of the recent shuttles an old mechwarrior of your father's former company came aboard to help us against Tomark. You would do well to meet him as well, I think."

"I understand, thank you for your advice." Jun nodded, and bowed slightly as he made to leave. Kaukatsu returned the gesture, and turned back to his men.

Just before Jun could leave, the man shouted, "Oh, and Jun-kun, could you remind Kaiden to get the techs to get working on the complement of battle armor we dug up from your father's personal armory?"

"Will do, Kaukatsu-san!" Jun gave the man a wave and left the training room, the door sliding shut behind him with a soft hiss. He made his way alone once again, this time heading towards the 'mech simulator room. It wasn't too far off, and he got there in a few moments of walking. The simulator room was smaller then the training dojo by a margin, having just four advanced simulator pods. Not the top of the line ones, which simulated every single detail of 'mech combat, but advanced enough for the mechwarrior inside to feel the one most significant detail of 'mech combat: heat.

One of the pods hissed, steam escaping from it, and revealing the aged mechwarrior Jun knew as Kaiden. The man, quite old as he was, was still relatively fit especially now as he shed off the pounds he'd gained for his Gotsu persona. Barely more then a week later, the man was already showing signs of weight loss, though that may be in part to some medical supplements he was taking. Regardless of which, Kaiden was slipping back into the mechwarrior persona of old, his role as Han-Xin's chef long gone.

"Ah, Jun-kun. Are you looking for me?", the man asked Jun, wiping the sweat of his brow with a small towel, and shaking beads of sweat from his silvery, stringy hair.

"I was, Kaiden-san. You know as well as I do, that I need your help if I wish to stop Katrina Tomark's ambitions, or at the least hinder them. I lack the practical experience or knowledge to do so." Jun spoke, though he had no doubt to the man's reply.

"True, and false. You do need my help, as well as that of a many other people. You do lack the practical experience. But…" he paused, as he unzipped his combat suit, "…you do not lack the knowledge to do so. Wisdom perhaps, but not the raw knowledge. Your father has trained you well, I know. Besides, I had a hand in that as well. You know much of the arts of war, and you have a talent for people-keeping. With those two, you will go a long way. For the rest, I and others shall help to fill.

"And so I will begin training you in the two most important things you shall need. First, is your ability in dealing with people. Most of the people here, gathered to the cause of fighting against Tomark, have come out of loyalty to your father, and perhaps in some cases your grandfather. They think me the leader of this movement, which is of course false." Kaiden stopped to emphasize the latter part of his statement, and placed a hand on Jun's shoulder.

"_You_ are going to be the leader, and none other. Like your ancestors before you, you have ability enough for leadership. We shall cultivate that. You will have to learn how to gain the loyalty of your people."

"I shall endeavor to do so." Jun replied evenly.

"You will _do_ so." Kaiden amended Jun's words, with a light smile. "Then, there is the second thing, which is of just as great importance with the first, and is in all actuality tied up with it. Tomark could once have been dealt with using softer tactics, but now with the HPG black out and from what reports I'm hearing from other worlds, it is a new time of war. The only way we will be able to stop her, is through war and nothing else. And so, it is time to cultivate your second talent, 'mech piloting, and enmesh it with all the other skills of warfare. To this end, we shall be training you hard in the art of war, both strategic and tactical, from the seat of mankind's finest weapon, the battlemech."

"And let us hope you learn fast, young Jun. Time is of the essence here." Another voice joined in their conversation, and the pair turned to it. 

"Ah, you have finished, good." Kaiden nodded approvingly, then made to introduce Jun to the newcomer. "Jun-kun, this is Mechwarrior Vincent, a former bondsman of your father, formerly from the Ghost Bears, or the Rasalhague Dominion. It is fortunate I was able to find him so close to Addicks, especially now."

Jun took this in, all the while studying the Clan warrior. The man seemed like a stereotypical Clan mechwarrior, or at least Jun's image of one. Dark blue eyes and naturally light hair that seemed like a blend of silver and blond characterized his physical features, besides of course the near flawless physique that he seemed to have. If by looks alone, Vincent was quite formidable.

"Greetings, young one. You very much look like the son of Han-Xin, that is of no doubt." Vincent nodded, extending a hand out for Jun to shake, and which the young man took, feeling the strength in that grip. "It was fortune only that I was seeking Han-Xin now, before the blackout and I managed to find him here. My condolences, he will be missed."

"I greet you as well, Mechwarrior Vincent, and as for my father being missed, I have little doubt of that." Jun backed away from Vincent, and turned to look at Kaiden.

"It seems you two have gotten off to a decent start, very well." Kaiden took out a small communicator. "As Vincent said, time is of the essence here. First, a basic skill you must have, is the ability to field a battlemech, as your father once did. In the time of war, respect is most easily garnered from leading on the field, as you can see throughout the history of mankind. That is somewhat an oversimplification, here in the Inner Sphere of course, but that is the core of it. Among the Clans, simple military prowess is almost all what you need, as Vincent here may explain to you another time."

"In short, whelp, Kaiden is saying this: basic battlemech training." Vincent grinned predatorily at Jun.

In the lighter gravity of the moon, and the low temperatures that it had, 'mech combat was decidedly easier for most 'mechs. When they began Jun noted that in his 'mech, the No-Dachi II, a greater degree of gravitational pull and a more moderate amount of temperature level would have been more ideal. Using triple-strength myomer required a certain degree of heat to function at optimal levels, and the aid of more gravity would have made his melee attacks more effective.

But those were things he wasn't very concerned with right now, as he struggled to learn the differences between piloting a military-grade battlemech and driving a mere IndustrialMech. 

"Come on, hurry up slacker!" came Vincent's call through his neurohelmet. Again, another difference between industrial mechs and a battlemech, was the relative complexity of the warmachine. Keeping his balance wasn't too hard, or running. Doing both, in the lighter gravity of Damocles and in the darkness of the far side of the moon, _was_ however.

He stared ahead annoyed at the ease in which Vincent seemed to be piloting his own 'mech, a modified Highlander IIC. The assault 'mech pounded along at top speed, which in the lighter gravity and with a more powerful engine translated to almost 90 km/h. While it certainly wasn't faster then his own 'mech, it actually was quite a bit slower since the No-Dachi II could have maxed out at around more the 120 km/h here, he was finding it hard to keep up.

"Argh!" That was his only cry, muffled somewhat, as he spurred his 'mech on, traversing the gorge floor that Vincent had chosen for them to practice Jun's piloting skills in. A while ago, after more then a few hours worth of having the young Koshimitsu practice all the basics of running, walking and maneuvering his 'mech through sections of the rough course, he'd detected the youth's growing impatience, and challenged him to a race. If Jun won, they would proceed to the next phase of training, which was combat. If not, the youth would have to undergo at least two hours more of piloting drills, of which the final test was a long jaunt to make their way to the base, rather then using the _Leopard_-Class dropship, _Amber Sword_, to get home.

He'd accepted of course, of which ended up in this merry chase.

As he breathed heavily, and a bit dizzily, he thought that perhaps he could have tried waiting two hours instead of facing this humiliation. But he'd committed to this, and he'd finish it, lose or not. He calmed himself down, and refocused himself on just trying to move as fast as he could. The 'mech crushed beneath its feet the lunar soil as he ran on, a few hundred meters behind Vincent's Highlander IIC.

"How disappointing, all your days of piloting IndustrialMechs and that intense training I just ran you through, I thought you showed promise! But you can hardly keep up with a 'mech twenty tons heavier. If you were in the Clans, you would have washed out your sibko even before the Trials for becoming a mechwarrior!" Vincent blithely commented, inciting a spark of irritation. He couldn't catch up at this rate, the small lead the Clanner had was more then enough for Vincent to claim victory, and his lack of ability to thread through the multitude of boulders and rocks in the canyon meant he couldn't bring his superior speed to bear. He grit his teeth again in annoyance, as he suffered the half-taunting words coming from Vincent

_If only I could find a clearer stretch of terrain!_

As if his wish came true by some divine being, he caught sight of a small section of the canyon wall. It was there, a lengthy ridge with few obstacles. If he could get up there, he may overtake Vincent's mech. He quickly began to search for a pathway up, and found one coming up as the canyon turned. Gambling on this last shot, he turned away from the central path and made his way to the higher ground, crashing through a short stretch of even rougher ground.

"What do you think you are doing, Jun?" He barely heard Vincent's words, so focused on maneuvering past the broken ground covered with sharp rocks and littered with boulders that made almost every step a chancy one. Before long though, he managed to break loose of the unforgiving terrain and onto a more moderate piece. With a relatively clear path ahead of him, he made use of his 'mech's superior speed, barreling along at a breakneck pace. The canyon wall sped beside him, becoming a mere blur as he pilot his mech past the few obstacles in the way.

After a few moments, he found himself catching up, and even passing Vincent who was trudging along below through the rougher ground. Admittedly, he was up high, he would need to find a way down, he realized. He noticed then that the ledge was getting smaller, but also it was getting lower, sloping once more down towards the canyon gorge's bottom. Excellent, he thought, and onward he continued. Before long, the two racing 'mechs found their way towards the last stretch before the finish line, which was denoted by the awaiting dropship.

Down the lat turn however, Jun noticed something which brought a measure of horror to his heart, as he realized that the canyon ledge he was on stopped some hundred meters short of the finish line. _Damn it!_

Apparently, Vincent had noticed this as well, and his laughter rang out loud in Jun's neurohelm. "Your gamble has failed, whelp, maybe if you tried to backtrack you may yet catch my dust cloud." 

Jun was Han-Xin's son, Vincent had said. And it was true in more then just looks and like mind. Like Han-Xin before him, Jun had a measure of pride and the unwillingness to lose when a chance remained, and it was this pride, which surfaced now, that spurred the young mechwarrior on to make a choice. Eking out every last bit of speed that he had in the No-Dachi II, he forced himself onwards, the end of the ledge drawing nearer and nearer.

"Give it up, young one, you can not win this match, concede defeat and resign yourself to your fate!" Vincent spoke out again once more, his voice steady this time, rather then mocking. He'd noticed the slight increase of speed from Jun's 'mech, and it did not bode well.

Before he could hear any more words from the Clanner, Jun shut down his communication gear, and went on his spur-of-the-moment plan. The edge came with alarming speed, and in a matter of seconds he reached the end of the ledge, and began his leap of faith. Mechs he soon appreciated, were not very aerodynamic, or were they meant to fly. However, the sheer momentum he built up, aided by the decreased gravity, helped him to leap quite a large distance before the ground began rushing up to meet him.

The landing was hard, and for a moment Jun thought he'd blacked out. But somehow he'd he enough presence of mind to spring from the ground rather then lock his 'mechs legs. The status diagram glowed orange, showing moderate damage to the internal structure of his 'mech's legs. They were still functional however, his woozy mind managed to realize, but his sense of balance from the jump or fall, as some may call it, was totally out of control. Closing his eyes he did the one thing he was capable off, which was to send his 'mech ahead once again on full throttle, this time with no pretense of avoiding obstacles in his way. The ring of metal on rock filled the canyon walls with their echoes.

He let himself settle into his own world, letting his mind regain its sense of balance and focus, shutting out everything but that. He reopened his eyes when it cleared enough, to see a large wall of steel rushing towards him, to which he reacted in three ways.

First, was immediately putting his 'mech into reverse, so he would slow down. Second was to pull back his 'mech's sword to avoid skewering the dropship. And third, was to turn his mech so his cockpit wouldn't smash against the dropship's side.

_This 'mech definitely needs jump jets._

That was his last thought before he slipped into unconsciousness.

He awoke later to a bright light, and he idly wondered why people always seemed to awake to bright lights. He coughed a bit, and breathed in deeply. There seemed to be no pain, so at least he didn't suffer any torso damage. He moved his legs a bit, and was relieved to find them still functional. As he was trying out himself to see if he was all right, he heard a few voices around him. He shook his head to clear his mind, but unlike the other actions, this one was greeted with an intense throbbing.

Well, I'm not quite unscathed after all… 

The pain brought him back fully to consciousness, and he realized he was in the moon base's infirmary. Kaiden, Vincent, and Kaukatsu were in the room, with a medical tech, who Kaiden dismissed with a nod of his head. Kaukatsu stood on his left with arms folded, an expression of concern on his face, while Vincent, the complete opposite was relaxedly sitting on a couch, a half-smile on his face.

"Well, are you ready for your next training session?" were the first words that came out of the 'mech warrior's mouth.


	4. Tempering the Blade

Tempering the Blade 

"Three incoming drones, Koshimitsu." Came the mechwarrior's voice.

In his 'mech, Jun laid his crosshair down on the nearest of the approaching drones, small disposable 'mechs. _Not that a 'mech is disposable though_. At just more then five hundred meters away, the fifteen-ton training mech proved an easy enough target. Slow for their size, and unarmed, all the drones were good for was target practice, which Jun was undergoing. He'd recovered quickly enough from the debacle with the No-Dachi II a few days ago, suffering only a minor concussion. Vincent hadn't stopped his training of Jun in the ways of a mechwarrior, but he did take it easier on him this day, letting Jun practice weapons use instead of another day of piloting in the extreme conditions of the moon.

A bolt of energy darted from his 'mech, the man-made lightning bolt of one of Jun's ER-PPCs lancing out to strike a drone down. The blast sheared off an arm, and the side-effect of the weapon's high electrical discharge stunned the drone long enough for Jun to get a better aim on it, and fire off another PPC beam, which finished it off. The heat in his cockpit jumped with each shot, but thankfully the cooling vest and the additional heat sinks helped bleed that off, along with the triple-myomer system, which fed off the heat to function effectively.

Dancing the fine line of heat was one of the most important secondary skills, if not the most, that a mechwarrior needed. Vincent had pounded that piece of advice into Jun's mind, recounting countless stories where countless mechwarriors had victory snatched away from their grasp all because of being unable to run the line of heat. At that time Jun had agreed with Vincent and spoken his understanding. Kaiden had butt in though, saying that pain was the best teacher, and in Jun's case recounting all the stories would hardly be effective.

Much to Jun's chagrin, the old man had proved right, and he had "died" due to overheating in his first simulated run. This time around though, he was much better. Or he'd like to believe anyway, keeping the heat gauge just in range of his peripheral vision to see how hot he was running. It wasn't too hard, especially since he'd been forcing himself to train hard the last few days on his own time. He'd taken Kaiden's lesson to heart, and wished to avoid or reduce whatever pains would be coming for him.

The next two drones went down quickly enough, as Jun threw out two more PPC shots, one for each. He managed a torso hit on one drone, which was enough to pierce its armor and fry its circuits, while he got a head shot on the second one which had closed to less then half a klick. None of the drones had closed to a range where he'd be forced to use his pair of pulse lasers yet, or his katana that rested easily in his mech's right arm.

"Not bad, that was only about three minutes. Your accuracy has improved over the past few days." Vincent came on the channel again, commenting on Jun's performance. His second statement was true; Jun hadn't done much besides target practice against drones, which were admittedly slow, moving at the speed of heavies more or less, though at times Vincent sent a few fast ones along to change the pace, but all had only the armor of the lightest mechs. "Now that your warm up is over, I'll launch the next level of your combat training. Good luck."

The vision field around Jun faded and shifted, and now displayed a barren plain, with a few large mesas dotting the landscape. He was familiar with the scenario. Here, heat was a greater issue then in the last one, with temperatures hitting a high forty Celsius. The heat factor in his 'mech would be greater, but as long as he was careful, he'd be fine.

"Incoming enemy hostiles, drones like before. Time cap is thirty minutes as usual, not that you need it, you have ten targets to destroy." 

"Copy that, proceeding to engage." Jun had finished this level of training already, and dispatched his foes one by one. Besides the increased heat factor, in this scenario he was facing a slightly increased number of drones, all equipped with heavier but still light armor, the ability to avoid his attacks, and equipped with light weapons. While this all added to increase the challenge quite a bit when taken together, it was still an easy match. It only took two PPC shots per mech, sometimes one if he struck near the head. He finished the scenario quickly, sustaining no damage to his mech as in the first one.

"Good, good, but we have yet to push your ability to move and fight much however. Keep the work up. Next scenario is loading."

Again the screen changed, this time to a warm swampland. Jun hated this scenario for many reasons, not the least was which the deep and thick mud he had to slog through, as well as the heat, which was little better then the wasteland temps. His foes here was a mix of light hovercraft, which would test accuracy more, and the two groups of drones, again upgraded with a slight increase in armor, speed, and firepower.

He'd finished this level as well, though unlike the last two engagements, which were easy, this one had a slight degree of challenge, though it was still low. He made use of his mech's relative mobility aided with the jump jets he'd added to it, to attain a terrain advantage over the two waves of five drones. He finished those off first before taking down the hovercraft, which were scattered in groups of three over the swamp area. He did better then before of course, like in the previous levels, and finished in little more then ten minutes.

It was the next level that frustrated him most despite his superior mech, as instead of just drones, he faced a mixed enemy composition and it was set in the middle of a desert with the terrain set against him. There were three waves of mechs for him to defeat, and four waves of vehicles. The first mech wave was all drones like before, again their specs and fighting ability boosted slightly over those of the least scenario. A _Panther_ however led the second wave, albeit a lighter mech, but it performed with what Jun saw as above average skill.  The next and last mech wave was a star of light mechs of IS technology, composed of a pair of Razorbacks, an Osiris, a Wasp, and led by a Clan Cougar.

He always lost against them, since the terrain rendered his melee ability useless, and his foes were far faster then his mech. The Cougar was content to pick at him from medium range, dancing on the limits of his pulse lasers, which he would have liked to use to chew away at their light armor before dealing a heavy blow with his ER-PPCs. However, he was forced to use his PPCs, and heat often kept him unable to react fast enough.

_Not this time though._ He thought to himself with a small smile, as the first wave of vehicles approached him and were shot down in succession. He brought the warmachines down with pinpoint accuracy, no longer restraining himself. He _had_ learned much over the past few days and his ability to shoot down his targets when one the move had increased greatly. The last of the vehicles, a _Fortune_, went down with a double-blast from his PPCs, his use of his jumpjets barely avoiding the salvos of autocannon shots it fired at him. His mech was still in fine shape though, with only his rear torso slightly damaged.

Then came the first wave of mechs, which he dealt with in time, weathering their attacks easily, and suffering again minimal damage. The next waves of enemy craft came along, then another wave of drones and the _Panther_, which lost to him in the PPC duel. The final challenge then lay before him, as the star of light mechs bore down on him. He knew they would come at three points, and he readied his trap. He thrust his katana down into a small J.Edgar hovertank, and proceeded to the place where the first set of mechs would come from. As they ran over the sand dune, Jun managed to place a horizon shot on one of the Razorbacks, the strike slowing it down.

The second one came on, firing its ER Laser at him, and scoring a hit on his torso armor, scarring it before he could react fast enough to dodge the attack. He shrugged it off though, and returned fire with a blast of his torso PPCs. One missed his target by just a bit, the azure beam lancing past the Razorback's head. The other one though struck the light mech's SRM module right on, causing crackles of electricity to ignite all over it. The mech shuddered as the errant shocks of power ignited the ammunition of the launcher and caused it to explode. The powerful blast effectively put the mech out of the fight, as it slowed and toppled over on its side.

He focused fire again on the first Razorback, this time using his pulse lasers to melt away the protection of the mech. More often then not, he managed to score a hit, thanks to the rapid firing rate of the weapons. The lightly armored mech soon succumbed to his measured, but unrelenting fire, and none too soon for the moment he finished off the enemy mech incoming fire from the Osiris pelted the sand by his feet, and managed to disrupt his balance as his legs felt the impact of a few hits by the mech's ER Lasers.

He spun around quickly, manipulating his jump jets with the foot controls delicately to spin faster. The sand swirled around him as the thrust provided by the jump jets stirred the loose particles into a veritable storm, which he hoped served as a secondary cover for him. True, he was just as blinded, but he already knew more or less how the Osiris was going to react.

One, two… 

He leaped his mech out of the sandstorm and found himself staring straight into the light mech's weapons. The sudden appearance of Jun right in front of it gave it pause, and it hesitated for a moment before wildly firing. Before the Osiris could react fast enough to aim though, the No-Dachi II's fist flashed upwards to smash the mech backwards and sent it stumbling backwards in the sand, its footing unstable in the shifting sands. Jun didn't let up, and continued his attack, firing his set of PPCs at the Osiris and slagging its armor.

The continued fire bounced up the heat again, and warning lights flashed. He felt the steam and hot air rush all around him, causing the Koshimitsu to sweat. He almost forgot that he was in a simulator, with the simmering heat and the shuddering and all.  The Osiris went down quickly enough after that.

_Three down, two more to go._

The scream of missiles filled the air, and twenty Clan LRMs exploded magnificently against the desert sand around him, and on him. Shards of his armor flew off as six of the missiles struck his side, causing enough damage to crack through his armor and render one ER-PPC useless from damage. He turned to face the Cougar, the 'mech lightly running, sending cerulean beams of light from its two pulse lasers out at him. The beams burned brightly against his torso armor, sending globs of melted metal to the desert floor.

He quickly retaliated with his own array of weapons, his remaining ER-PPC lancing out to snag the Cougar's arm. He tried for a positive lock, and tried for enough lead for his twin pulse lasers to fire and strike the Cougar, hitting the enemy mech dead center. Almost like it waited for him, he got the lock he needed his hands guiding the crosshair with unnerving confidence. At the same time, he fired LRM-10 rack he'd been saving up for the occasion, and aided by the Artemis IV FCS most of the missiles hit home as well, cracking the armor he'd weakened with his successive shots of pulse lasers. 

The missiles ravaged the Cougar, who'd tried to avoid the salvo with the use of its jump jets, but he had prepared the LRMs and the Artemis just for this occasion.

In the past fights the Cougar had managed to avoid a significant number of his PPC shots with the accursed jump jets, and the use of three PPCs in the desert was practically heat-suicide much to his misfortune. LRMs however, and Clan-tech ones at that, were far more effective, and it gave him a reliably accurate weapon to use against the Cougar. Without the advantage to wear the No-Dachi II down like before, and with the ability to strike with far more accuracy, the light Clan mech fell to the superior firepower of the No-Dachi II in a short time.

He smiled broadly now, savoring the sweet taste of victory of the Cougar, admittedly a computer controlled one, but it was still a victory. Now there was just the Wasp left, and being the lightest of all his foes, he was sure it would go down without much of a fight. He glanced down to check his sensor screens for the lone red dot that would be waiting. Before he could do so though, the crack-whine of a Gauss rifle reached his ears.

_Gauss rifle?_ Almost instinctively, he smashed down on his controls. The split-second it took for the rifle shot to hit him gave him enough time to avoid what otherwise would have been a shot straight into the ravaged side of the No-Dachi II, and would have undoubtedly finished him off there and then. As it was, instead of destroying internal structure, the rifle slug knocked off what remained of his left torso armor. The profile of a Shadow Cat appeared to him through the smoke of the carcasses of his fallen opponents, a pair of lasers burning through it to damage his arm.

_What the? This wasn't part of the scenario!_ As those words echoed in his mind he realized how foolish they sounded. On the battlefield, nothing was absolutely constant, he reminded himself. He was still annoyed of the change though, knowing that a Shadow Cat was a far more dangerous opponent then a mere Wasp. 

He turned to face it, and the duel began.

Stifling warmth suffused his whole cockpit, and the trickles of sweat he once was bearing with became more like a river as it continued to rise as he was forced to fire more and more against the fast moving Shadow Cat. His irritation grew as the Clan mech avoided another paired PPC shot, and so far all he had been able to get against it were some hits with his pulse lasers and LRMs, which was rendered less effective even with the Artemis because of the Shadow Cat's LAMS, which managed to cut down about a third of the incoming fire.

The Shadow Cat on the other hand was having a much easier time shooting at his larger and slower mech, despite Jun's best efforts to avoid the incoming fire. He soon realized that Vincent's words were very true. While he'd managed to develop an uncanny sense of accuracy at shooting down his opponents, the fact was that in most of those engagements he'd only had to do positional movement, or tactical movement. His ability to take down his opponents before they could properly lay down fire on him had in effect hindered his development of being able to perform combat-movement and shooting.

The revelation was both a boost to his pride at one skill, but also a tear down of it at his blindness. 

Too late to learn that right now… 

He set his jaw in place and doggedly kept on the fight despite the fact that here he was probably outmatched. After all those waves of drones, light mechs, and tanks, he couldn't brute force his way to victory in this duel. He bit down a curse when another silver slug smashed into his 'mech, tearing off the No-Dachi II's left arm. Without the last PPC, and with his LRM ammo nearly depleted, there was no way he could win now. 

Wait, he paused, an idea forming in his mind. He suddenly remembered the sword he'd struck through the J. Edgar before the current star of 'mechs had engaged him, which he had originally planned to use in a back-up plan against either the Razorbacks, Osiris or Wasp, which were short-range and medium-range mechs. His excellent performance against them had pushed away the sword from his mind until now. A smile returned to his face, which he suppressed quickly as he enacted his newly formed plan.

As if seeking to escape, Jun mashed on the pedals and ignited his jump jets, creating once more a storm of sand around him. Ignoring the fire from the Shadow Cat and gambling that the sudden onslaught of powdery particles had given him a small window, he turned around as well as he could as the jump jets exhausted themselves. Immediately upon landing on the shifting side of the dune, he pounded his way forward to the sword, which lay a few hundred meters to the side.

He had barely began his mad dash for the sword when the Shadow Cat, like a harbinger of doom, came crashing out of the man-made sandstorm and firing with wild abandon, fully intent to bring him down quickly. Gone was the calculated marksmanship and movement its pilot had displayed, for Jun had no doubt that there was a pilot behind that 'mech, no AI program was that good. Even so, the laser bolts and the occasional Gauss slug did come unnervingly close at times, and the Clan 'mech managed to score a hit or two. He closed with the sword soon, but the medium mech behind him didn't let up, and came straight up his six at full speed, its aim gradually getting better.

_Come on you bastard!_

The range between the two shortened from six hundred to five, then four and closer as the Clan mech drew close into the short ranges. He hurriedly gauged the distance between him, the sword, and the enemy mech when he decided it was all or nothing. With the jump jet reserves charged up at more then half, he pumped the jets for all they were worth, once more stirring up a cloud of dust and sand behind him. Unlike before however, the Shadow Cat was undeterred and plunged straight into the storm.

Just as he expected.

It was truly a last act as he hit the heat overrides, and reached his mech's hand out for the sword. A feeling of exultation washed over him as the hand wrapped around the handle of the massive blade and his mech came to a stop, with barely any reserve left of the jump jet supply. The storm he'd stirred up this time though was far larger then the other times, when he'd only used them for quick turns and dashes. He ran back into the dust cloud, and flung his sword at the silhouette of the Shadow Cat when it appeared in front of him.

The sword and the J. Edgar attached to it flew straight at the 'mech. The sight of the sword spinning wasn't much of a laughing sight, but seeing the J. Edgar reminded Jun of a toy being tossed in a tantrum. He hadn't realized that the small hovercraft was still lodged in the sword until he flung it at the Shadow Cat. What happened next was pure luck though, and everyone who saw the record of the battle knew it.

The sword went wide, unbalanced as it was by the hovertank that it was imbedded in and only managed to nick the Shadow Cat's right leg by the barest of margins. The J. Edgar was another matter though. As if wielded like a hammer whose hammerhead was separated upon the swing, the vehicle became a short-lived projectile that soared straight at the Shadow Cat's cockpit. Backed up by the full strength of the triple-myomer system of the No-Dachi II, Jun knew how much heat it had to feed on, and because of the way it was thrown at the Shadow Cat, the 25-ton tank smashed into the side of the Clan mech's head with almost enough force to knock it backwards.

As it was, the mech tilted up and to its right at a very unnatural angle, clear that Jun had managed to damage its insides by twisting certain parts where they weren't meant to go, before stumbling backwards and toppling over. If that hadn't finished it off, he'd lost the fight with no chance at all by now, and his 'mech shut down under him, unable to sustain the high temperatures any longer. As the timer counted down before he could restart the mech, he looked warily at the Shadow Cat, which was twitching oddly, electric sparks jumping all along its face.

All of a sudden the image vanished from sight, and the simulator module shuddered, signaling the termination of the training simulation program.

The pod's cover popped open to the bright light of the simulator room, and the face of Vincent, a peculiar grin plastered on his face. Jun frowned slightly but it turned into a sheepish grin as he climbed out with Vincent's aid.

"Well, did I win?" 

The roar of laughter that came from Vincent daunted the Koshimitsu quite a bit before the man began patting his shoulder. "Win! Yes!" His laughter continued, and the man was unable to stop, much to Jun's disconcertment. 

Kaukatsu shook his head at the former bondsman, and put a hand on Jun's shoulder, a smile on his face that showed a deal of mirth, though it was far more well controlled then Vincent's own.

"Can someone tell me what just happened here?" He asked the security chief.

Kau shrugged slightly, and gestured to another person in the room. At the consoles where an observer or controller of the simulations normally sat, it had been Vincent when Jun went in about an hour or so ago, now had another man at its seat.

Jun looked at Kau, who gave him a nod, and went up the short flight of stairs towards the man. As he approached this new member of the crew, it seemed, he looked him over. He wasn't very tall, perhaps a few inches shorter then Jun himself. A touch on the heavy side as well, but not enough to be called fat. He had hair that was just beginning to gray, and glasses. A tech probably, Jun guessed, or someone with a similar line of work.

He just managed to hear the man murmuring to himself and shaking his head, saying "Confound Han-Xin and his accursed concept of luck! " With those words Jun found his first guess correct, this man was definitely part of his father's old crew.

Jun cleared his throat and spoke to the man. "Ah, greetings to you, and welcome to Damocles Moon Base." He began to bow slightly to the older man when he shook his head and waved the formality off.

"None of that, I've no use for all that decorum. I had enough with Han-Xin, the universe forbid that his son torment me with unnecessary words." The old man immediately cut him off, then stretched out his hand instead. "I'm Cheng Falls, most pleased to finally meet the son of Han-Xin, though I sincerely regret the circumstances of our meeting."

"There is no need to apologize. Vengeance first, then we may dispense what words we wish." Jun replied, coldy on the last few words.

Cheng looked at Kau with pursed lips. "Yes, definitely Han-Xin's son. But enough of that, I assume you are wondering what I have to offer your cause yes?"

"The thought did cross my mind, my purpose right now is definitely a rather dangerous course of action." Jun shrugged almost off-handedly, but his curiosity was piqued a bit.

"I shall get to that in a moment, but first, I believe my dear colleague here has something to speak to you of." Cheng nodded at someone behind Jun. The young man turned to look, and found the grim-faced Kaiden looking at him.

"You were lucky, young one. I would have found a simple defeat by your hands acceptable, but how you won was simply…" He closed his eyes and shuddered then continued. "Infuriating."

Exasperated, Jun turned to give all the rest around him looks. "Will someone please tell me what has happened here? I do not understand!"

Cheng brought up the image of the last moments between Jun and Kaiden's fight to the largest available holo screen. "As you can see here, you have Kaiden's mech downed but fully armed still by your blow and the impact of the J. Edgar, while you're here shut down and sorely devastated with nothing left but your sword as a weapon. And yet you won." Cheng ran through the quick clip, then tapped a button. "I wondered why the computer system had declared you so, since Kaiden was by all rights fully capable of finishing you off given a bit of time which he would have had since your mech had shut down. Checking Kaiden's mech I found the reason for your lucky victory."

Cheng seemed to grimace at the use of the word luck. 

"And?" Jun asked, somewhat impatiently, wanting to find out the means of his triumph.

"Well if you look here, besides the external damage, the only other damage the Shadow Cat suffered is here in the interior of Kaiden's mech, where you can just make out that the neurohelmet system Kaiden was using had suffered minor damage in the form of a few damaged or severed command lines. Unfortunately for him, those few lines were the exact lines that linked his neurohelmet to the 'mech's command and control systems. So, especially since the blow had managed to knock the Shadow Cat down and facing the sky, and with the inability to move his 'mech through any means, the simulator system declared you the winner." Cheng finished with out any fanfare, simply dictating the facts as presented to him.

"You're joking right?"

And for Jun's personal Battlemech!

Battlemech Stats:

Type/Model:      No-Dachi II ND2-1C

Tech:                Mixed (Clan Chassis) / 3132

Config:              Biped Battlemech

Rules:               Level 3

Mass:               75 tons

Chassis:           Endo Steel

Power Plant:      305 Fusion XL

Cruising Speed: 54 km/h

Running Speed: 86.4 km/h ~ 97.2 km/h

Jump Jets:        none

Jump Capacity:  none

Armor Type:      Ferro-Fibrous

Armament:

1 Sea Fox ER-PPC 

1 DWU ER Small Laser

1 Sea Fox LRM-10 w/ Artemis IV FCS 

3          DWU Medium Pulse Lasers

1 DWU "Ryuu" Battlemech Sword

1 Sea Fox Angel ECM Suite

Manufacturer: Dynasty Weapons Unlimited

Location: Terra

Communications Systems: unknown

Targeting and Tracking Systems: unknown

Type/Model:      No-Dachi II ND2-1C

Mass:               75 tons

Equipment:                                            Crits                 Mass

Int. Structure: 114 Pts. Endo Steel          7                      3.75 Tons

            (1 RA, 1 RT/LT, 1 CT, 1 RL/LL, 1H)

Engine: 305 Fusion XL                            10                     19.25 Tons

Walking MP: 5 

Running MP: 8 (9)

Jumping MP: None

Heat Sinks:       18 Double (36)               6                      3.00 Tons

Gyro:                                                    4                      4.00 Tons

Cockpit/Life Support:                              5                      3.00 Tons

Actuators:                                             15                     0.00 Tons

LA: Sh+UA+LA RA: Sh+UA+LA+H

LL: H+UL+LL+F RL: H+UL+LL+F

Armor: 231 Points Ferro-Fibrous              7                      12.03 Tons

(Armor Crit Loc: 1 LA, 2 LT, 3 RT, 1 CT)

                        Internal  Structure           Armor Value

Head:                            3                                  9

Center Torso:                 23                                 34

Center Torso (Rear):       -                                   12

L/R Torso:                     16                                 22

L/R Torso (Rear):           -                                   10

L/R Arm                        12                                 24

L/R Leg                         16                                 32

Weapons and Equipment            Location            Heat     Ammo   Crits     Mass

1 ER PPC                                 LA                    15         -           2          6.00 

2 Medium Pulse Lasers              LA                    8          -           2          4.00

1 Medium Pulse Laser                RT                    4          -           1          2.00

1 LRM-10                                  LT                     4          36         4          5.50

            (Ammo Loc: 3 LT)

1 ER Small Laser                       RT                    2          -           1          0.50

1 Sword                                    RA                    -           -           5          4.00

1 Angel ECM Suite                    RT                    -           -           2          1.50

1 Artemis IV FCS                       LT                     -           -           1          1.00

1 Triple Strength Myomer            LA/RA & LL/RL  -           -           6          0.00

TOTALS:                                                                                   23         24.5

Crits & Tons Left:                                                                       0          0.00

Calculated Factors:

Total Cost:        21,946,488 C-Bills

Battle Value:     2,436 BV

Defensive BV:  

Base BV: 765.25

Total BV: 994.825

Offensive BV:

            Base BV: 960.80

            Total BV: 1441.20


	5. Speculum

**Speculum**

Techs swarmed all over the No-Dachi II, working under the masterful supervision of Falls, whom Jun had come to find out was the main driving factor behind the extensive modifications and designs of the mechs Han-Xin had worked on with Kaiden. Kaiden had said that the man was a genius, having graduated with the highest honors at twenty-two. Jun had then commented that the age wasn't a sign of genius, when Kaiden had added that at that age Falls had finished his Engineering major as the last of three majors he had taken during the four years he had spent studying at that level.

The man that stood before him was now just over forty, a little younger then his father. He noted that genius was far more impressive when the person in question was young, but in the end, he decided, the experience and wisdom added to that genius was truly far more formidable. He knew that if Falls had been born during a time when war was the norm, whoever had his services would have had an edge. He reflected somberly on that line of thought, wishing instead that he hadn't thought of it.

_Dark times are coming, no doubt about that._

The 'mech bay was busy now with his arrival, Kaiden's rule about no one touching the precious battlemechs now rescinded since Falls and his expertise was taking care of them, the battlemech expert's watchful eye making sure that all the modifications and repairs were proceeding without fault.

"It is good we are all here. Han-Xin always did seem to have a sense of premonition. He had begun calling his comrades to meet with him just before the blackout of communications. It is fortunate." Kaiden spoke softly, as he observed the flurry of work down below.

"So des ka…" Jun murmured. "I had wondered why people were coming in like this, it seemed so convenient."

Kaiden shrugged. "Maybe your father had an inkling of what was to come. As I said, he always was a perceptive man you know. Or maybe it was just luck." He let himself smile a bit. "Han-Xin loved tormenting Cheng about that."

"I would think so." Jun replied. The young man remained silent for a while longer, then turned to Kaiden and began to say something when he saw a man of the security force come running towards them

The man came up to the older man and whispered a few words to him. Kaiden nodded, saying, "Excellent, have them proceed to the command center immediately."

Jun looked at Kaiden, "The reconnaissance team has returned, I presume?"

"Indeed they have, they just arrived a few minutes ago. It seems they have much to tell us of what has transpired over the past ten days since we have left Addicks." The old mechwarrior told Jun, beginning to move along the catwalk towards the corridor on the other end.

"I see…let us waste no time then. I have little doubt as to what Tomark's plans for Addicks are though." Jun shook his head, a dark expression clouding his face. Unbidden, the image of his father's assassin, Zentoshi, arose in his mind. He quickly shut it out, focusing his attention on what he was going to do. He did not need to remember that he had killed that man, and how he had done so. Losing his father was enough of a horror to deal with.

The pair came to the wide doors that were the entrance to the Damocles moon base's control center, and Kaiden placed his hand on the control panel. The doors slid open after confirming his identity, revealing a room filled with communication, control and command or C3 equipment. Kaukatsu stood inside, the leader of the three-man team that had done a covert insertion on Addicks to gather information on the actions of Tomark's force on the planet, among other things.

"Kau, glad to see you have returned unharmed. What news from Addicks?" Jun greeted the man. 

Kau nodded, and turned to the main viewscreen. The screen lit up, and images appeared, showing the planet Addicks. "We have more detailed information encoded in data cards and discs, but for now I'll give you a rundown on what we've discovered. As we have gathered from initial reports, the HPG blackout is indeed more then just in this sector. It's a complete, system-wide blackout. Nothing is getting through anywhere, what we had hoped against. But that's nothing really new; we all knew this even before the attack anyway. 

"Now we get to the real meat of what we've found out. Tomark has declared herself a Duchess claiming her 'noble' lineage and has formed, for the lack of a word, a separatist faction calling itself the Dragon's Fury. She's thrown any pretenses aside, and seeks to claim as much of the prefecture as she can. She is most certainly a threat, with at least three regiments at her command. Admittedly, the Order of the Five Pillars isn't a true combat regiment in comparison to the other forces she is fielding, but it is potentially the most dangerous opponent we have. I should know." Kaukatsu's voice trailed off a bit at the last, but quickly gathered up where he left off for a moment.

"But fortunately, we are not the only group standing against her. As of now, on Addicks, another military group under the authority of acting-Prefect Tara Campbell is attempting to hold Addicks against any 'enemy' forces, which would be in this case Tomark's Dragon's Fury. The Dragon's Fury force would have been enough to squash the planetary militia and local defenses long before now, but the Highlanders are putting up a very spirited fight, so the Fury is having a harder time then I think they expected."

The image on screen shifted to reveal an aerial view of red-colored units moving towards the city limits. Jun could make out the trails of fire erupting from the red line. The view zoomed in to focus on a lone Arbalest leading the attack, no doubt the commander of the force, the Dragon's emblem easy enough to spot on it. The scene zoomed out again slowly, to reveal return fire from scattered forces in the militia colors and from elements in greens and browns. Jun did not miss the lone battlemech that fought against the advancing waves of bright crimson, faring not too well against the heavy firepower that had been brought against them, but under the circumstances, it was doing good enough. A few explosions rocked the thin lines of dark red and green-brown mix that were the Republic's defenders.

_The Highlanders I presume._

"We have been monitoring transmissions from the planet, and the Highlanders are suffering heavily from the attacks." The vid clip stopped there, and recycled then replayed itself all over again. "We will not be able to get into Neo Carthagia or any of the official fields with easy drops anytime soon." Vincent added, breaking Kaukatsu's report only briefly.

"We've also reports that Tomark isn't the only one leading a separatist group out there. Apparently, some of these groups have been preparing military forces for quite some time. Few, if any, can stand a chance against them. Even Campbell's group realistically won't be able to do too much, seeing as her party is the only loyalist one I've heard of so far." Kau began again, picking up after Vincent. "At this rate, the strife could tear apart the whole Prefecture, if not the Republic, should this spread." Kaukatus shook his head somberly. "And violence has a bad quality of being infectious."

Jun shook his head. "Stone would be turning in his grave, if he was dead. Right _now_ our primary problem is that planet that lies closest to us, and what we can do about it. Tomark is attacking the planet, and we will do all we can to stop her from getting what she wants." Jun stood up from leaning on the table, and rested a hand on Kaukatsu's shoulder.  "I thank you for being able to gather so much, I know you must be tired. I am already satisfied for now with what you've told me." He gave Kau a look. "Get some rest, we can get a more detailed debriefing later."

Kau gave Jun a small smile, then stood at attention. "Thank you, Jun. If you need anything, I've given what other information we've managed to secure to Vincent here. He should be able to enlighten you some more." With that the man left, the doors hissing behind him.

"War, war, and more war. Finally, something better then hiding behind shadows." Vincent chuckled, a feral grin on his face.

Jun looked at the clan warrior oddly, "And you're happy about this state of affairs?"

"Jun, even if I _had_ been bondsman to your father for years and in this relatively peaceful Republic," he paused and held that animal grin on his face, "…I am a _Trueborn_. War is my blood, and it shall always be. I am a warrior born of the iron wombs, and battle is what I am bred for."

"He's just justifying his bloodlust." Kaiden interrupted, causing Vincent to shrug nonchalantly. "Fact remains that from all evidence, the Republic will be experiencing some military struggles soon, and not just from Tomark I fear. These Highlanders seem to be the only 'loyalist' forces, besides the actual RAF troops of course. But the RAF presence here in Prefecture III is weak, at best." Kaiden smiled grimly. "And laughable, in most cases."

"We are not saviors Kaiden, please. I love the Republic as much as any citizen, and we can think about that later, but for now I want to frustrate Tomark's designs here and now. Once we deal with Addicks, then we can turn to looking at what we can do. After all, even just a single lance of battlemechs is a potent force nowadays." Jun turned to Vincent with a weary smile. "Quiaff?"

"Aff!" The clan-bred mechwarrior smiled. "Good choice of words, whelp!"

Jun ignored the last, and turned back to Kaiden. "But we shall still need some cover, if we are to directly involve ourselves." They grew silent for a moment, before Jun turned to Kaiden, after a few moments of thinking.

"Mercenaries." They said together, much to the horror of Vincent, who also said the same thing though in a very different tone of voice.

"Well, you'll get your chance to fight as much as you want." Jun pointed out. "And we won't be tied down to a single planet, if we negotiate right. I don't want to become another power-grabbing faction right now, even if our loyalty lies more with keeping the Republic together, then otherwise."

"True." The clan warrior grew silent, pursing his lips.

"So, we shall become mercenaries. What shall we name ourselves, leader?" Kaiden asked Jun.

"Leader?" The young man looked at the old man. "You mean me, right?"

"Of course, don't you remember _why_ we are contemplating this in the first place? You are the most important unifying factor here, otherwise we would all be taking our vengeance on Tomark in our own ways." Kaiden pointed out. "You see, even I would have difficulty controlling all your father's friends. I have certain conflicts with some of them. You on the other hand can draw on your father's name, so while they won't be doing it for you at the start, it is as good as anything right now."

Jun nodded, he knew about this, ever since the day he had left, but had only given much thought to it when Vincent had arrived. "Well then…we shall need to act to establish this, won't we?"  He smiled faintly at the last few words. "The information we have, we shall need to make it known to our people."

"What? So soon?" Kaiden asked. "Are you sure about this, news of war is not something to be treated lightly."

"Kaiden, if we are going to involve ourselves in the war, then what use is hiding information from the people we will need to trust our lives too?" Jun countered. "Do it, and summon the people around afterwards. Give them a few hours to mull over this, but we need to act quickly." 

The man nodded slowly, and said, "True." The word came from his mouth as if he was thinking still whether to disagree over what Jun had said. "Very well, I shall take to this task." He straightened slowly, and then turned to leave.

"If this were the Dominion, or any of the Clans a simple Trial of Position would settle all this." Vincent snorted disdainfully. "Nonsense Spheroid politics…"

The murmurs of the few hundred people, the whole of the small force of people gathered on the moonbase, filled the 'mech bay. It was the smallest chamber where he could speak out loud without volume amplifying equipment, and where everyone could fit. He looked at his hands, and found to his annoyance that they were moist with sweat. He shook his head, and steeled himself further for what was to come.

It was his idea after all, this little thing. With Kaukatsu's report done, Jun finally realized the scope of what was happening. The Republic, or at the very least Prefectures III and IV, were experiencing the first major battles in decades, and the beginnings of a war. He breathed deeply and relaxed himself, much like in the way he did before performing his rigorous katas. He opened his eyes slowly, when Kaiden's hand touched him on his shoulder, and nodded.

It was time.

He gave the old man a weak smile, and climbed up on the side of the quartet of ammunition crates that served as his stage. He idly thought that this could quite literally blow up in his face, or rather under him. The fact of this was hardly lost on him, and his heart literally began to pound.

What am I doing? This idea of me being a leader is ridiculous! I'm hardly even of age yet!

But then the image of his father projected itself harshly into his mind, the faint smile and sparkle of Han-Xin's eyes in his mind's eye memory. He remembered the blood that covered his hands, the rust-red colors seeping into the floor as his father's last words came to him.

"Jun…make me proud. I'll always be watching you."

The words rang in his head, and it was all he needed. He didn't care if he failed, he would try again, and again. He would make his father proud of him, and age mattered only to further that pride. He whispered a quick, silent prayer in his head for his father, and then rose to his full height on the impromptu platform. He looked first at the ranks nearby, finding Kaiden and his closest friends, those he knew were loyal to his father and him, most especially the old mechwarrior and Kaukatsu. He gave both of them an appreciative smile, drawing strength also from the knowledge that he had their support fully.

He walked to the center of the platform, and clasped his hands behind his back, his stance revealing as little of his nervousness just moments before. The silence that began to descend told him that they had noticed him, and turned their attention to the young Koshimitsu. Jun's hair bristled a bit, the sensation of knowing that hundreds of eyes were now turned and focused on him.

_"Jun…make me proud. I'll always be watching you."_

The words rang again through his mind, and finally pushed him into the breach.

"I am Koshimitsu Jun." The words were spoken loudly, clearly. They had heard him. He swept his gaze over the crowd, taking in each and everyone present.

"I was born a child of Devlin Stone's Legacy, the Republic of the Sphere, the child of Koshimitsu Han-Xin, the son of the mechwarrior once known as the "White Dragon" who was loyal to the ideals of Stone and refused the carnage that separatist factions and forces are now bringing to the Republic." He looked around him, his voice becoming stronger still as he spoke, capturing more fully the attention of the people before him.

 "For that, he was killed, and I have taken up his legacy, to refuse the anarchy that Katana Tomark, his murderer, and many others would spread." He raised up his hand and clenched it into a fist. "We have few allies, many potential enemies." The hand fell, then rose to point upwards and away, signifying those he spoke of."

"But we will win, for we must." 

He paused to let this sink in then continued, saying, "For our families, our people, our Republic, and the ideals of the legends that was and is Devlin Stone and my father, Koshimitsu Han-Xin, I will fight to the end."

"I will become, the Legends' Pride."

He stopped then, and looked over the crowd of people. Nothing, but a silence filled the air. He had failed then, he thought. He shrugged mentally, he would just have to find another way to convince them, to earn their respect and loyalty beyond what he could claim by being the son of his father. He knew it would be a long process, and could only hope for the best.

Then he heard it.

One by one, beginning not with his closest friends, but with the people he hardly knew, they began clapping their hands. He began to smile and the clapping grew more widespread, and when he heard not a few cheers interjected into the growing noise. Caught up in the moment, Jun raised his hand in a fist and pumped it into the air, a broad grin on his face.

"On the planet Addicks, Katana's forces savage those who seek to defend the Republic and its sovereignty. They seek to destroy the peace that people like Stone worked and bled for, the peace that now is being shattered by the pressures of war, the ambitions of power-hungry people like Katana Tomark.

"But we will show them, the Republic still has people who are willing to fight against the chaos such people would bring, we will show them the strength that runs through us all. And we will begin, on Addicks!"

Kaiden smiled up at the young man, his hands just one of those clapping. When you really thought about it, Jun was far too young to be the leader of the potential power he was tapping right now. But then again, when times changed, did age really matter? No, it didn't. The old man smiled sadly, the feeling bittersweet. He knew that if the young Koshimitsu would keep on this path there would be much pain, much suffering, and much death. He could only hope that at the end of the day it would be worth it.

"I guess it went well enough, didn't it, Kaiden?" Jun smiled broadly at the silver-haired man, as he came of the crates.

"Indeed, young Koshimitsu. You will do well." The old man smiled, nodding his head in approval.

It had better be worth it.

Jun smiled, faintly. It seemed funny, that the teachings and lessons of a man over two thousand years dead could still be effective. Sun-Tzu, the young Koshimitsu decided, was most definitely a genius. It was too bad he wasn't alive and aiding him now. But the youth figured that applying his gems of wisdom was just as good. 

He thanked his father silently, as he manipulated the controls of the loader mech, that he had made the young Jun so interested in such stories as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and with treatises like Sun-Tzu's Art of War, and so many other books. What he certainly lacked in experience, he hoped that his knowledge could cope up with for now.

He smoothly turned the tight corner of the armory materiel bay, where various spare parts and equipment were stored. He could hardly believe that his father had so much influence! What was Koshimitsu Han-Xin anyway? With the influence he had, even taking into consideration that his father was a former military officer of rank and the former owner of Dynasty-Technologies Unlimited, it was a bit of a stretch to see how Kaiden could draw on his name to get them so much. And so quickly as well, it seemed quite suspicious.

Everything just seemed to fall into place, and while it was certainly good for his goals, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something behind this. He didn't even know why this feeling came about. He had only begun feeling this since the other day, when he'd made his move and truly broken free from his shell. 

It seemed so fast. Just less then two weeks ago, Katana Tomark had broken into his life, and shattered the peace on Addicks. Ten days ago, Jun had found that his father was far more then he had seemed to be, a man of many secrets, not even the least was having a full lance of battlemechs hidden underground in his estate. And finally, two days ago, they had discovered from transient merchants and other space-farers about the possibility of more separatists wreaking havoc in the Prefecture and somehow galvanizing Jun into acting.

He set the crate down carefully, the heavy metal container shuddering slightly as it rested on other metal containers. "It this the last of them?" He called into the small communicator that was clipped to the side of the small 'mech's cockpit.

The small thing crackled softly; before a voice came out of it saying, "Yes sir, that's the last of them. Your help is much appreciated, sir."

Jun sighed, and shook his head as the mech he piloted walked backwards cautiously. "All right then, I'm coming out." He still was not used to the fact of what he did. They were acting though, and he did not deny that. In less then twenty-four hours, they would be taking the 'mechs down back onto Addicks, to strike out and weaken the Dragon's Fury. He only hoped that they hadn't decided too late, to stop the Dragon's Fury that was now waging a war of conquest on Addicks against its defenders. The massive storms that they had detected moving in had delayed the would-be conquerors greatly, since they were unable to move up to the northern continent. 

They had struck just when storm seasons on Addicks had kicked into high-gear, the few of the more significant battles, like the one that had taken Neo Carthagia a few days ago, were fought when the storms had passed on. A lighter storm was now moving in, and from what reports they had of the Highlanders, they were digging in until it passed.

He set the mech down to shut down, as the cockpit hissed and popped open. The young mechwarrior pushed it fully open and jumped out the small cargo mech and landed lightly enough on the ground. He nodded to the techs that had come up to help him down, and waved their assistance away, then turned to run for the command center. 

He arrived shortly later, what little sweat he'd worked up drying off somewhat, to find Kaiden and Vincent poring over the latest information they had from Addicks. Jun came over silently, and let his eyes go over the holos that floated in the air. "So they're forcing them back, huh?"

Vincent nodded, and shifted his hand to press a few keys. "Forcing indeed, the Highlanders and their allies are not faring well. Although they did manage to capture and destroy quite a lot from the gamble that the Dragon's Fury commander tried, we have identified her as Tai-I Danni Haag, the Fury is still pushing forward. Miss Bishop failed to prevent the remnant of the Dragon's Fury troops from gathering their forces. A mistake, she should not have made."

The Clanner shook his head, and turned up some more video feeds. "We managed to get this, from on-planet. Tai-I Haag's strategy seems simple, with her forces readying like this, its obvious that she is planning a full and all-out assault on the Highlanders. The loyalist troops will be hard pressed to keep the Tai-I from breaking through towards the oil field refining centers. Once Haag has that, she can force a choke-hold on the planet, and with her control of the spaceport as well, can hold the planet in thrall for Katana Tomark."

Jun nodded, and turned to Kaiden. "This will be the final battle, yes? Can we intercept the Fury troops in time?"

The old man's face was set in a frown, but he nodded slowly. "Yes…yes. If we try for a hot drop into the battle-zone, we could intervene in time, if but barely. It will be cutting it close though.

Jun nodded, "Do it."

**Bonus:**

**Profile**

Name: Koyakawa "Tsunami" Kaiden        DOB: 04/03/3058

Faction: Legend Pride                            Hair: Silver

Mech: Shadow Cat                                 Eyes: Black

**Description**

Once known as the Tsunami in his younger days, Kaiden disappeared from sight after the Republic had been formed in 3081. He has only now resurfaced, it is unknown from where from, again taking the name he held in his prime. Although he is by now well into the sunset of his lifetime, his age does not prevent the old wolf from being a fearsome foe. He brings to the field deadly skill tempered by experience by living through the Blakist Jihad and the border wars during the formation fo the Repulbic, both as a lone mechwarrior and as a tactician. Even off the field the man, while still more comfortable in a military environment, can easily adapt to any situation that demands either forcefulness or élan. Whatever has happened during the two decades he vanished, it has only turned an already deadly sword into a more dangerous weapon.

**Mech Commentary**

Kaiden's Shadow Cat is a mech that has been personally worked on by himself and his now-deceased companion Koshimitsu Han-Xin. The Shadow Cat is a fast, hard-hitting battlemech, and the model that the Tsunami pilots is a deadly sniping mech, using Light Gauss rifles built with Clan-tech aid, and also sports two LRM-15s and a set of lasers for close range combat. 

**Reviewer Responses**

**TNG**

Hey, thanks for the Review! I suppose I was a bit free with the J.Edgar throw, but I wanted a vehicle that was heavy enough to make a huge dent, but light enough that with a bit of a stretch would be doable. And its all Clan-tech of course. After all, this is MW:DA so I think Clan-tech would be a bit more easy to get by now then otherwise. As for the newcomer ages, well…I'll have basic profiles up now. Thanks for the praise, but I know I still have a long ways to go.

Marwynn 

I made a few mistakes here and there with the designs…hehe, anyways. My excuse is that the sim version is a different model Jun tinkered around with. The "basic" version and the one he'll be using for the story is the one I put down. No Jumps, only one ER-PPC etc. Does that clear things up? ^_^

**Fblue**

Thanks! But try say more please? Thanks!

**Unarmed Bystander**

I'm trying dude. Keep me up if I still seem to lack details though!

**Endo**

Its not just a kid with his dad's battlemechs. There's more under the water than can be seen, trust me.

**Remember, review! More reviews, more work done faster! Thanks!**


	6. Fields of Black Gold

**Fields of Black Gold**

"Do we have contact yet?" Jun asked Kaiden, a hint of impatience showing itself in his tone of voice. The _Amber Sword_, their _Leopard_ class dropship, sped towards Addicks in a steady burn, their plan to directly strike at the Dragon's Fury after a about two weeks of biding their time coming to fruit.

"Patience…we are trying. It is quite difficult to get a line to the Highlander commander, especially as Tai-I Haag's troops are just some hours away from striking the battlefield." The old man counseled the youth. He laid a hand on Jun's shoulder and nodded at the world in font of them. "Do not worry, even if we are not able to contact Captain Bishop, I'm sure that our actions when we hit the Fury troops will easily tell her we are on their side."

"True, but remember. Our cover is that we are a mercenary group of sorts. If we wish to keep that cover, we will need to act like it." Jun reminded the old man.

"Ah, yes…true. But I have little doubt about that…" he stopped in mid sentence as a soldier motioned Kaiden over. "A moment, Jun." The aged warrior moved away and stepped up beside the communications officer, he nodded listening to the man for a moment then turned to smile at Jun. "It seems we have the most esteemed Captain on the line."

"A mercenary group? And you're offering your services to the Highlanders?" Tara Bishop spoke, almost disbelievingly at the blurred video image in front of her. She found it rather peculiar that a supposed mercenary company would be here, just at this critical moment, and aiding them of all things! It was doubly ironic as the Highlanders were once among the elite mercenaries of the Inner Sphere many years ago.

She mused this over, and turned aside to look at her second. "What do you think?"

Lieutenant Kyle Anders shrugged, and looked at Jason Carlyle, Bishop's second in her lance of mechs. The two traded a glance, clearly torn with the situation. After a moment of hesitation, Kyle nodded. "We need all the help we can get, Captain. With the HPG down, we can't check on them, but if they can really help, especially with a such a force as they said they had with them, they could make the battle much more easier for us."

"Kyle's got my same opinion here, Captain." Jason shrugged. He added tersely, "I just hope they don't gouge our eyes out with a payment beyond our reach."

"I assure you, we will be most fair with our terms." A voice came from the communication monitor. The three quickly turned towards the screen, a dark figure still all they could see, besides a logo behind them of a faded star set on blue. A link came up on the screen and Tara nodded slowly, then activated the link. The terms of contract quickly came up, which she scanned.

She looked up at the dark figure, another incredulous look flashing over her face. "Is this for real?"

A faint chuckle managed to filter its way through. "Yes, it is. Let us just say that we have no lack of love for Katana Tomark. So, do we have a deal?"

She paused for a short while, trying to find a catch in this. She shook her head and punched a key. "Done."

"Excellent."

It was just then that a soldier ran in breathless. "They're coming."

A thunderous rush shook Jun's mech, as he was strapped in the No-Dachi II. In the bay across, Kaiden sat patiently and calmly in his Shadowcat, while to Jun's right was Vincent eagerly awaiting the coming battle in his Highlander IIC. Then lastly there was Kaukatsu's men piloting the other two 'mechs, the Shadow Hawk and Centurion. Jun knew that of them all, he was the least skilled and experienced, that Kaukatsu and his selected men had certainly some skills at least.

Five mechs, five mechwarriors.

He smiled as his fingers danced on the button that had just cut the connection between him and the Captain. He couldn't help but think that even when the threat of the Dragon's Fury just looming over the horizon the Highlander commander looked quite attractive. The young mechwarrior shook his head, as another shudder rocked their dropship as it broke through the atmosphere of the planet Addicks.

Jun opened up an internal communications line to the craft's bridge and leaned over to speak into it. "ETA to the field?"

There was a brief pause, before a voice came in. "We've just broken through sir. We place our arrival in approximately ten minutes. We're picking up some of their transmissions, do you want us to relay it to you?"

The young Koshimitsu nodded, then spoke into the unit. "Very well, send the feed to me." He quickly adjusted the links, to have the video feed display on one of the redundant monitors in his cockpit rather then the mainscreen one, just in case. He ignored another somewhat violent shudder and the _Amber Fire_ descended to an increasingly lower altitude. The monitor displayed erratic feed for a while, before the images and signal became strong enough.

"…being pushed back from the first line of defense, the attack on the left flank was a feint! Their main force is hammering the center and right flanks."

Another voice suddenly broke through in his cockpit. "It doesn't look like they're doing well, are they Jun? No wonder why they weren't quite so resistant to our arrival."

"It does not matter, Tsunami. Winning or losing, our sudden presence as we hit their rear and flank should be enough to give the Highlander forces time to regroup and turn the tide. The plan will work." Vincent's exuberant voice butted in.

Jun shook his head, and tapped the button. "Enough talk, we'll be there in five minutes. Get ready." He took his own advice, and began to start up the other systems of his mech, running one more last minute checkup. This was it, his first real battle. He closed his eyes, and whispered a prayer as he put down the visor of his neurohelmet. He glanced at the side of his HUD, and began the last check.

"Sir, we are dropping in two minutes…we shall begin countdown at thirty seconds." Jun heard the voice, and tapped a button reply.

"All mechwarriors, call in!"

"Dekker, check."

"Blaire, reporting in."

"Frost, ready to fight." That would be Vincent, he noted, since he knew that only he and Kaiden had callsigns beside himself.

"Tsunami. Let us show these lizards the true art of battle." Jun raised an eyebrow at this, but decided not to reply. It would have been something not quite suitable for the situation at any rate.

"This is Raikage, All mechwarriors have checked in. Ready for drop." He grinned in a mixture of nervousness and excitement. "See you at the victory party."

The faint voice that was the countdown was drowned out by a resounding reply from his fellow mechwarriors. Then the floor beneath them shuddered and began to open to reveal a great expanse of green that were the Plains of Jesara.

The descent was exhilarating, in an almost terrifying way, he thought. The single-use jump pods that had been attached to his mech shuddered as they activated and roared to life to slow his drop to manageable speeds. He took a quick look around the place, and as was right they were dropping just behind the Dragon's Fury field headquarters, which had been placed some kilometers away from the front line. It was rather close, but it fit the hot-blooded thinking of the Fury commander.

Just as they had predicted, he grimly noted. Sporadic fire began to lance up form the ground at them, but it wasn't all that threatening since they had sent all but a skeletal force to the front. The force remaining behind wasn't anything to sneeze at to be sure, there was a lance of tanks and infantry squads guarding their command center and field repair facilities.

Already Jun noted that Vincent and Kaiden were beginning to return fire as best as they could with their powerful Gauss rifles, the hypersonic metal slugs smashing into a Marksman tank and the other destroying a DI-Towed AA cannon. Then they landed heavily, and he and the other less experienced mechwarriors added their own firepower to the fray, as the Dragon's Fury began organizing what defenses they could muster to protect their HQ.

Light gunfire plinked on his 'mech's armor as a crew of infantry manning a machine gun attempted to wear away at his armor. He quickly shifted his mech and let loose a PPC shot that flashed out and incinerated the gun. The weapon and its ammunition exploded in a flash of red flame, and the young man felt a pang of guilt in his heart as he saw the men die. He grit his teeth and hardened his heart. He knew then that war truly was a terrible thing, and his anger against Tomark only grew stronger.

He quickly looked around him and began firing his PPC at his targets, his shots taking out clusters of enemy troops and light vehicles that fired on him. He watched as fire and lightning engulfed his foes before his eyes, but he willed himself not to shut them. He knew in his heart that he would never grow to like death, but it was sometimes a necessary evil. "Tsunami, have we secured the grounds?"

A moment passed before Kaiden replied. "Tsunami here, we have secured the premises. All local defenses have been neutralized."

"Good." Jun nodded again, and switched channels. "This is Raikage to Shadow One, secure the Fury mobile HQ."

A few beeps gave him his reply, as four squads of battle-armor equipped commandos arrived from a pair of combat shuttles that had just landed nearby. He watched from his mech, checking his sensors for any enemy movement. He tapped a button to zoom the ranges out and found much to his pleasure that the Dragon's Fury assault on the Highlander lines had seemed to bog down somewhat.

"This is Shadow Lead, we are securing the HQ. Moving the target and collateral to the DZ in three, ETA should be around ten minutes. Wait…we've found the locations of the Fury mobile artillery. Uploading them to you now." Jun quickly switched to the mech channels as his hand moved quickly over the boards to transfer the information.

"All right, lets do this. There are four artillery units, each guarded lightly by light units. Infantry and a few hover craft. Dekker, Blaire, each of you take a squad of commandos from the Shadow team. Take down one artillery unit each, then proceed to the DZ and secure it. I'll go with Frost and Tsunami to take out the other two. Let's move people!"

Jun barked out, and the two mechwarriors moved off to do their assigned missions. Jun's mech moved forward as he plotted out the artillery units. They were moving around slowly, but thanks to the quick strike on the HQ, it didn't seem as if they were fully aware of their presence, though he was sure that the front-line troops had noticed their sudden lack of coordination.

Their mechs quickly moved through the plains, taking out the Sniper mobile artillery units in two brief engagements that left nothing but burning hulks behind them. By that time, he was sure that the their element of surprise had begun to fade. Regardless, the presence of three battlemechs on the field suddenly hitting the Fury troops from the rear was nothing to be sneezed at.

"Careful here, Hokage. Take support, we'll take point from here on." Kaiden's voice came through to him. Jun grit his teeth in annoyance at that. He had been doing well all this time had he not? He shook his head and stifled that, letting the older man have his way for now.

"Very well. Take point."

Then they were there. More then a whole kilometer's stretch of grassland was engulfed in fire, great patches of the land gouged and pitted. Countless bolts of gunfire lanced out between the Dragon's Fury in their crimson uniform as they pummeled the Highlander and Republican guard lines. They were one the verge of crumbling when Jun and his companions arrived, and quickly wasted no time in delivering a massive barrage of fire against the nearby Fury forces.

In the span of seconds two IndustrialMech MODs were lying on the ground as their engines exploded, and the enemy infantry troops around began to scatter as the Highlanders' own infantry concentrated their fire on those that they more easily fight. The trio had hit this Dragon's Fury attack unit hard, taking out the two mechs that had been the cornerstone of the attack in this particular part of the line, and laid waste to the few vehicles that were supporting them with anti-infantry fire.

A beeping light on his command screen caught his attention. He quickly identified it as a direct communications request from someone. He activated it, belatedly turning on the image and voice scrambler before the link was done. A man's face resolved itself onto the screen, a weary but relieved expression on his face.

"Hey there, I don't know who you are, but you couldn't have come at a better time."

"Indeed. Captain Bishop requested our assistance here. What is your name?"

The man seemed to pause, then shrugged. "Is that so? Anyway, I'm Sergeant Devon…"

"Well, sergeant. The battle is hardly over now is it? Get your men organized, because we're going to need some infantry support. We're heading straight along the line to let loose on as much Dragon's Fury as we can. Care to come along?"

Tara Bishop breathed heavily on her cockpit as the heat rose once again. Her Hatchetman had been embroiled in the heaviest part of the fighting, trying to come in contact with her opposing commander in her Arbalest. But her own mech couldn't keep it, damaged as it was as she continued to hold the gradually retreating line.

"Damn it!" She had lost contact with her other officers in the battle, after the Dragon's Fury had successfully lured her and her supporting forces away to squash the diverting troops. By the time she had returned to retake control of the situation, the Dragon's Fury had pushed hard enough to make her defensive line look like a large bulge in the center and right.

She let loose another shot with her remaining weapons, the bolts scarring her target, a large DI Schmitt assault tank. She closed to it as it attempted to fire at point-blank range, the two massive cannons letting lose another volley before she could get into melee range. Fortunately for her, the blast missed and merely threw her off balance for a moment before she lashed downwards with the large weapon that gave her mech its name.

The Schmitt's guns were smashed apart and a gaping hole in the tank's armor allowed nearby troops to pour fire into it as she backpedaled. The hatch of the tank opened and its crew frantically leaped out and ran away, just barely managing to escape the tank before it exploded. She saw the tank's crew rush towards her infantry as they attempted charge the line before they were cut down. Such a useless waste of life, she thought.

Her mech was suddenly pushed off-balance by a barrage from her side. Unable to withstand an attack of that magnitude in its damaged state, her Hatchetman collapsed onto its side. The Arbalest that she had been hunting for much of the battle had appeared, and looked none the worse for wear, to her own distaste. The mech moved towards Bishops' own and pointed its guns at her cockpit.

"Well, well…Captain Tara Bishop is it? How delightful it is to see you. I've been looking forward to this. Surrender Captain, and I will let your troops withdraw from Addicks without any further loss of life." The voice that filtered through her comm. was undoubtedly that of Danni Haag's. The confidence that seeped through could have been heard even through the filtering of the military communications unit.

Tara spat out the blood that seeped from her lips, wiping them on her sleeve. "I will never surrender to a blind ambitious fanatic like you!"

There was a poignant pause before Haag replied. "Then you shall die." The Highlander captain sighed and closed her eyes for the fire that would take her life.

"No." Bishop's eyes snapped open at that. The voice was familiar, she knew, as she realized that it was the voice of the mercenary commander she had spoken to just before the battle had begun.

"Commander, you have quite a thing for entrances I see." Tara smiled tiredly as she saw the No-Dachi II loom over the two light mechs. Behind the heavy, she could see the silhouettes of two other mechs, and she turned to her side to see if her sensor equipment were still functional so she could identify them. To her satisfaction they were still working, if somewhat roughed up. She raised an eyebrow as seeing the information run up her screen. "I am not surprised you have managed to turn the tide of the battle against the Dragon's Fury."

"Who are you!" Haag's voice ripped through the comm. waves, her infuriation at realizing her situation now having made itself present in her mind.

"Who I am does not matter. What matters now is that you have failed. The defenders of Addicks, of which I have been hired into their service, now have the victory. It is you who must surrender."

"What is this nonsense…!"

"Silence, Tai-I Haag! Your command center and HQ has been captured, your artillery support destroyed, and your main forces are being surrounded and outflanked as I speak. And finally, you have three enemy battlemechs right here before you amidst the wreck of your troops. Surrender."

Tara could almost imagine the shock and frustration now blossoming in her opponent. It was a shock to her as well, though a pleasant one. The mercenary had saved them a lot of lives by striking so hard and quickly and forcing the Dragon's Fury to defeat. A brief but loud scream filled her ears for but a moment before she shut the link down to the Tai-I.

"So mercenary, what are your terms?" Tara pulled off her gloves, her hands sweaty from the exertion of the battle. Beside her stood her lost officers, having survived the battle somehow, she knew they would tell her when it was all over.

"Time to pay the keeper…" She barely heard one of them mutter, Jason or Kyle she wasn't sure. It didn't matter, they had gotten victory, but nonetheless she hoped that the mercenary leader was reasonable enough.

"The terms…" The man who stood a short distance from her, accompanied by a squad of commandos in battle-armor and three other men whom she assumed were his officers had still his neurohelmet on him, as did his companions. He glanced to the side at one of the other men, who nodded slowly. Then he took off his helmet, as did the others.

He was young, of that she had no doubt. But he looked so vastly younger from his officers. The thought that went through her mind was once again one of shock. How could such a youth lead this force?

"Hey, I know you…! You're that kid. The son of that multi-billionaire who owns Dynasty Tech. But aren't you supposed to be…" Kyle stepped forth, but was cut short by the youth raising his hand in a gesture of silence.

"Dead? I would like to remain so, if you so understand me. My true name, as your companion knows, is Koshimitsu Jun." He directed the latter sentence to Tara. "I think you understand why I wish to remain dead. The terms are simple. You keep my secret, among other things."

"Among other things…?" She looked at him curiously.

"Yes, among other things. First is that you allow me to claim salvage over the Dragon's Fury field base and its resources. Second is that you release to me ownership of the Dragon's Fury Arbalest. And lastly, is that you release the prisoner Danni Haag over to me. Is that fair?" He looked at her, his eyes flashing with something she couldn't place.

She looked at her own officers who seemed uneasy with the deal, especially on the part of releasing the Arbalest and Danni Haag. "I have no idea what you wish to Haag, but as for the rest they are understandable. Very well, on my word the Highlanders as representatives of the Republic defense forces accept your terms. Is there anything else?"

Jun thought it over for a while, then nodded. "There is one last thing. I would encourage you to spread the word about us. Vaguely of course." He chuckled softly, and flashed her a mischievous smile. "You could mention it along with Tai-I Haag's death, of course. I shall sent a shuttle for her in three days time, at Neo Carthagia's spaceport. For now however I have business to attend to. I do hope we don't find ourselves on opposite ends of the battlefield, Captain."

He took his helmet and placed it over his head again as he turned around and walked away back towards his mech along with his companions.

"What an interesting bunch of people…all cloak and dagger kind of thing, don't you think?"

"Jason, shut up."

They watched as the mechs heaved to life and began walking away towards their dropship.

"Do not you think that was overly theatrical?"

"Vincent, shut up."


End file.
